


'Cause All I Need is You

by starrynebula



Series: Reid/Amber Series [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-09
Updated: 2015-01-22
Packaged: 2018-02-20 13:05:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2429870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starrynebula/pseuds/starrynebula
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As Valentine's Day approaches Reid is dealing with some personal problems while trying to balance work, his relationship with Amber and the dynamics of his relationship with Agent David Rossi. Sequel to Careless Man's Careful Daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Amber and other original characters as well as the plot belong to me. The Criminal Minds concept and its characters belong to their owners and I'm simply borrowing them for entertainment purposes.

_He was walking into an empty highschool. His footsteps echoing in the empty hallways. The sound of his own breathing sound so loud he thought for sure that if anyone was in here they would hear him coming. Then he heard a girl’s voice. Lindsey’s voice, yelling for her father to kill someone._

  
_~Not today,~ he thought. ~No one else should have to die today.~_

_Then he was standing in the doorway, the scene in front of him. The injured UnSub lying on the ground, begging him for help. This was one of the guy’s they had been hunting._

_A person partly responsible for the brutal death of Katie. Yet he was still a teenager himself. The one needing protection here because no one deserved to die at the hand of someone else. He was the only one who had a chance to save the kid. There was no team, there was only him._

_“Please, just don’t kill me,” the UnSub said, his voice not much louder than a whisper. The fear evident in every aspect of him._

_“Jack, you swore to your wife that you would protect Lindsey. Listen to her Jack. Listen to what she wants, she’s ,she’s begging you to kill someone right in front of her. What do you think your wife wanted you to protect her from? Jack, you’re life has been, it’s been about violence, and if you do this, Lindsey’s will be too. You want that?”_

_“No, you don’t want that,” the UnSub said, his voice sounding like he was close to tears._

_“When does it end Jack?” he asked, hoping it would be enough. Hoping Jack would put down the gun._

_“Put down the gun.”_

_“Kill him,” Lindsey requested of her Dad._

_“When does it stop?”_   
_And then suddenly it was no longer Jack standing in front of him but Tobias Hankle. Hankle turned to him, the gun now pointed at him._

_“For God’s will,” the Raphael persona said, calmly as he pulled the trigger._

_He closed his eyes, flinching at the sound that resonated throughout the room._

Spencer Reid sat up suddenly in the bed, breathing heavy from the nightmare he had just relived. Staring out into the darkness that surrounded him, he thought about the situation that had happened just over twenty-four hours ago. It was his fault that kid had died. He should have done more. If one of the others had been there, perhaps that kid would have still been alive.

  
Spencer felt cool hands on his bare shoulders and involuntarily jumped. He had forgotten where he was. Forgotten that just like many nights since Amber had accepted his proposal, he hadn’t gone to his apartment when he left work that evening. Instead he had gone to Amber’s place. Had been there when she got home herself, as she had ran errands after leaving work. Had started dinner while he had waited for her. Afterwards, the two of them had spent a relaxing evening in front of the TV, interrupted only by a few phone calls from their friends.

So far he had been able to keep the demons away. Perhaps he had still been in shock last night. Or maybe just too tired, as he got a few hours of sleep in on the plane and then at his own apartment, not wanting to disturb Amber when the team had gotten in early Tuesday morning. Then there had been work to occupy his mind. No matter what anyone tried to tell him, paperwork could be therapeutic at times. After he and Amber had retreated upstairs though, and sleep had claimed them both, those demons would no longer stay behind the fence he had tried to corral them in.

“Is it the same nightmare again?” he heard Amber ask quietly, feeling the whisper of her breath on his ear as she spoke, her hands beginning to massage the tense muscles of his neck and shoulders.

“No,” he told her, not sure if he felt relieved at that or not. Even though this nightmare wasn’t about his ordeal down in Georgia, an element of it had still found its way into this nightmare. ~I thought I was making progress. Getting past what happened down there,~ Reid thought. Suddenly he wasn’t so sure.

“Is it related to your most recent case?” Amber asked.

All she knew about what had happened was what her father had told her as Spencer had not yet mentioned the case. The team had gotten back early Tuesday morning. Amber wasn’t quite sure what time, having only woken up enough from her sleep to give Spencer a kiss as he had joined her in the bed. She had left for work before Spencer, taken care not to wake him while she was getting ready. Her father had called that afternoon, as she was driving home from work. The details she had given her weren’t the best, him and the others having arrived at the high school after Jack Vaughn had already shot the perpetrator, but what he had said afterwards still echoed in her mind.

“Keep an eye on him, Sweetie. It was obvious he was shaken by that kid getting shot in front of him. Hell, who wouldn’t be. He wouldn’t talk to any of us though. Everyone is concerned.”

Amber had assured him that she would keep an eye on him and thanked her father for the heads up. She had ran a few errands before heading home, and as she had walked through the front door of her townhouse with the three bags of groceries she had picked up, had been greeted by a savory aroma coming from the kitchen. Finding Spencer at her house was a common occurrence, and she had given him his own key right after the new year. Spencer started asking her questions about her day and it didn’t take her long to realize that he was trying to avoid discussing anything related to his job or the latest case. Amber had decided to let it go for now, and not push him into talking about what had taken place. As she sat on the bed behind him now she wondered if that had been the right choice.

“Spencer, come on. You need to talk about it,” she told him softly, when several minutes had passed and he hadn’t answered her question, without stopping the massage she was given.

Reid reached up to run his hands through his hair, his heart still beating fast from the visions that had haunted his dream. He knew she was right but was hesitant to give the visions voice. All he wanted to do was forget about what he had just seen in his dream. To move past it. Not to relive it and he knew closing his eyes was only an invitation for his inner demons to rise to the surface again.

“Your Dad told you about the case, then?” Reid finally asked.

“What he could,” Amber replied.

“I’ve replayed the incident through my head a hundred times already. Trying to figure out what I did wrong. What I could have said that would have stopped Jack from pulling that trigger. What one of the others would’ve done and if the outcome would have been different if Morgan or Hotch or even your father . . .”

“Don’t do that to yourself, Spencer. Don’t start asking what ifs. They won’t get you nowhere, I know that from personal experience. Do you know how many times I’ve asked myself what if we had spotted a victim just a little bit sooner. What if we hadn’t taken quite as long getting to the helicopter or what if I had swam a little faster? The cold truth is even if those things had happened the victim might still have died. We do the best we can given the cards we’re dealt. You tried your best to save that kid.”

“He shouldn’t have had to die. Not like that. Vaughn killed him in cold blood. The kid was defenseless and Vaughn just shot him. I can’t understand it.”

“That’s because your not the same type of person this Vaughn guy is. You care about people, even when they’ve done bad things themselves, you still don’t want to see any harm come to them. It’s one of the things I love about you and I know how much it hurts you when you can’t stop bad things from happening. Even after all you’ve been through, you still focus on the good. Don’t try to understand Vaughn or what he did. It happened. Just know that you tried your best.”

“That kid still died.”

“Yes but its not your fault.”

“Then why can’t I quit reliving it.. Even in my dreams. I was back there. Repeating the same words and then . . . “ Reid paused, not sure he could continue. He felt Amber stop massaging her shoulders and then felt her arms encircle him, holding him tight. In her arms was the only time he felt truly safe nowadays. Finding the courage to continue, he spoke again. “Just before he pulled the trigger, Jack changed to Tobias. It was Tobias that actually pulled the trigger.”

Amber didn’t say anything, as she rested her chin on his shoulder. She wasn’t sure what she could say that would help ease the emotions she knew Spencer was still dealing with from his ordeal down in Georgia. She knew he would never forget about, much like she would never forget the first dead body she had pulled from the ocean after becoming a rescue swimmer. There were some horrors that there were no forgetting. All you could do was find a way to come to terms with them and not let them ruin your life. She knew

Spencer was still trying to find that balance.

“I just want to forget,” he whispered.

“I know you do,” she said softly. “It will get easier.”

“Having you here makes it easier,” he told her, covering her hands with his own. They sat there like that in silence for awhile. Neither speaking as Reid tried in vain to forget the images of his nightmare.

Eventually, Reid accepted the fact that he wasn’t going to be able to close his eyes again that night. Wasn’t going to be able to sleep even with Amber by his side. Not wanting to keep her up, he moved out of her grasp, and got to his feet. Leaning over, he gave her a kiss before speaking.

“Go back to sleep. There’s not reason for both of us to be tired tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?”

“Downstairs. I’m going to watch tv,” he told her. He could see the skepticism and worry in her eyes. “Really get some sleep.”  
As he left the room, Amber was laying her head back down on the pillow. Even as she drew the blanket back up, she watched his silhouette leave the room. In the quiet of the night, she heard his footsteps slowly fade down the steps. Even though he had said he wasn’t leaving, she still listened for the sound of the front door opening and closing, scared that he might head back to his own apartment. As troubled as he was tonight, she didn’t want him doing that. Even when she heard the TV come on downstairs, its faint echoes finding there way to her ears, she didn’t relax.

It wasn’t long, before she was throwing the blankets back and getting out of the bed. Reaching the foot of the bed, she grabbed her bathrobe off the bedpost, and slipped it on over the satin nightgown she was wearing. After tying the sash, she headed for the door. Making her way silently downstairs, she set the alarm on her watch, not wanting to be late for work.

Reaching the living room, the only light came from the TV which was currently playing the opening scenes of Star Wars: A New Hope. At the sound of her footsteps, Reid looked away from the screen.

“I thought I told you to go back to sleep,” he said, not moving from his position at the one end of the couch, feet propped up on the coffee table.

“I plan to,” she told him, as she crossed the living room. “Down here.”

It wasn’t long before Amber had herself settled on the couch, her head resting in Reid’s lap.

“Do you want me to turn down the TV?” Reid asked.

“It’s fine. If I can fall asleep while my mother and whatever guy she happened to be married to at the time argue in the same house, a movie won’t keep me awake.”

“You would be more comfortable upstairs,” he protested.

“I’m quite comfortable, thank-you. Now watch your movie,” Amber told him, closing her eyes.

* * *

 

SSA Derek Morgan walked off the elevator onto the sixth floor actually feeling awake today. The cup of coffee in his hand was more of a habit than an actual need to help wake up this morning. Still, feeling the warmth of the cup in his hand was a good feeling. Something familiar. Something safe.

Approaching his desk, he saw that Reid had already shown up, paperwork open on the desk in front of him. As Morgan put his coffee cup down on the desk, he looked over at the younger agent. Reid had his head propped up on his left hand, and face turned away from Morgan’s direction. From the distance he was at, the dark-skinned agent couldn’t see what it was that Reid was working on or if he was actually accomplishing anything. Reid’s right hand, which was holding a pen, was laying still on the desk beside the open file.

“Hey, Reid,” Morgan called out.

At the sound of Morgan’s voice the younger agent jumped slightly, his head falling off the hand propping it up. Reid looked up at Morgan with a half-awake look.

“Sorry, man, didn’t mean to startle you,” Morgan said, his hand resting on the back of his chair. “You don’t look like you got much sleep last night.”

“I got a couple of hours of sleep,” Reid replied, looking away from Morgan and back down at the file open on his desk.

“Somehow, I don’t think the lack of sleep had to do with any extra-curricular activities,” Morgan said lightly. He saw Reid’s body tense up at the comment and knew the comment had not had his intended affect. Leaving his own desk, Morgan took the few steps necessary to cross over to Reid’s desk. The younger profiler kept his gaze fixed pointedly on the file in front of him, as Morgan leaned against the desk. “You okay, Reid?”

Morgan waited for his friend to answer. Not only was an answer not forthcoming, but Reid didn’t even glance up at him.

“Come on, man. What is it?” Morgan asked, reaching out and placing a hand on Reid’s shoulder. Reid glanced at the hand on his shoulder before looking up at him. Morgan saw the haunted look in Reid’s eyes, even though the younger man still didn’t say anything. “Is this about the last case?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Morgan,” Reid told him.

“If you can’t sleep because of it, man, you need to talk to someone.”

“What are you going to do, run to Hotch like you did when I told you I was having nightmares the first time.”

“If I have to,” Morgan told him, holding eye contact with Reid. He had no regrets about those actions. He had done what he thought was necessary in that case. To this day, if he had a chance to go back and relive that moment he would do the same exact things. Morgan had regrets in his life, but that wasn’t one of them.

“What do you want me to do, Morgan,” Reid said, his voice louder than necessary given the distance between him and Morgan. Other agents in the bullpen cast glances in their direction. “Do you want me to rationalize that kid getting shot in cold-blood in front of me as okay because after all he did kill Katie?”

“No, Kid, I’m not asking you to do that,” Morgan said, keeping his voice low so that their co-workers who were now looking on couldn’t hear his words. “I just don’t want you to let this eat you up inside.”

Before Reid could reply, another voice interrupted.

“Reid, Morgan,” Agent Rossi called out.

The two agents looked in the direction of his voice, to see David Rossi standing on the walkway surrounding the bullpen. Seeing that he had his teammate’s attention, Rossi inclined his head in the direction of his office. Getting the message both agents gave a single nod of ascent as they got to their feet. Silently, they headed to the nearest set of steps and headed for their superior’s office.

David Rossi had reached the office first, and as Morgan and Reid approached he had unlocked the door and pushed the door open. Not a word passed between the three of them as Morgan and Reid walked passed Rossi and preceded him into the office. Agent Rossi followed his two co-workers into the office, coming to a stop just within the door.

“Did you want to see us for something?”Morgan asked, as he faced Rossi. Reid stood slightly behind Morgan, more than happy to let his co-worker do the talking.

“Not really,” Rossi replied. “The two of you just attracted my attention as I was coming in, just like you did almost everyone else out there,” he told him, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the bullpen area behind him. “Didn’t seem to be a conversation you really wanted to be having in an open area like that. Now if you would like my involvement . . .”

“That’s not necessary, sir,” Reid said quickly.

Rossi nodded. He knew what the subject of the conversation had been about from what he had heard Reid say. He also knew that it was about time one of them got Reid to talk about the case and he was more than happy to let Morgan handle it. He and Reid were still trying to figure out the new dynamics of their relationship and this was something that they really didn’t need to throw into the mix at this point.

“Well, then, I’m going to go talk to Hotch about something. The two of you are welcome to use my office for as long as you need it,” Rossi told them.

Not giving either of them a chance to protest or say anything else, Rossi turned and headed back out the door he had just walked through, pulling the door shut behind him.

Morgan took a couple of steps forward and then turned to face Reid.

“So, are you going to talk to me or do I go to Hotch?” Morgan asked.

“What is there to talk about Morgan. You can’t make the situation all right.”

“No. Nothing is going to make the situation is okay,” Morgan told him honestly. “But Jack Vaughn pulled that trigger, not you. Don’t beat yourself up for something he did. You did your best.”

“You sound like Amber.”

“Always knew she was a smart girl,” Morgan replied.

He watched as Reid walked over to the chair placed in front of the chair and sat down. “What if there was something that I could have done differently that would have stopped

Jack from pulling that trigger?”

Morgan sighed. “I can’t help you with that question unless you tell me what happened at the school,” he told Reid, as he walked over to the desk, perching on the front of the piece of furniture.

“You just want me to talk about it,” Reid told him, looking up at Morgan.

“Guilty as charged,” Morgan replied, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Come on, Kid. It can’t hurt. It might even help.”  
Reid looked up at his friend sitting in front of him. Morgan held his gaze, silently waiting. With a sigh, Reid finally began talking. Given Morgan the small details of the situation at the high school that he had been withholding in his accounts of the events of their last case.

 _Friday Afternoon:_  
Reid walked through the front door of the YMCA, later that evening. After checking in at the desk, he made his way to the pool area. He wasn’t here to use the facilities. Reid was there to catch up with Amber who had started volunteering at the facility just after the new year. After getting her life guard certification once again, Amber had started volunteering on the weekends. About a week ago she had started teaching a swimming class for underprivileged kids. Her class ranged in ages from six to ten years old, and Reid could tell she was enjoying it.

Pulling the door open to the pool area, Reid walked inside. Amber was in the pool already with the kids. Not wanting to interrupt, he stopped a few steps within the door as it closed behind him, without calling out her name. The sound of the door closing echoed through the room, attracting the attention of those in the pool. Seeing him, Amber waved quickly before turning her attention back to her students. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, Reid stood and watched the scene before him. Enjoying watching Amber interact with the kids as she worked on their swimming technique.

About ten minutes later, Amber headed for the side of the pool. She grabbed a large multi-color beach ball, and tossed it toward the kids. As the kids started tossing the ball around she hoisted herself onto the edge of the pool, and motioned to Spencer to come over. As she kept an eye on the kids in the pool, Spencer came over to her.

“I don’t want to interrupt anything,” he told her.

“You’re not,” Amber told him. “I always let the kids do something fun at the end of the lesson. Learning to swim should be enjoyable not just all work. What brings you here?” she asked, her eyes not leaving the kids in the pool even as she talked.

“Well, I wanted to run something by you. Morgan wanted me to join him for a couple of drinks tonight.”

“You don’t need my permission to hang-out with your friends, Spencer,” Amber replied.

“I know, but we had said we were going to talk about possible dates for the wedding and . . .”

“And that can easily be postponed until another day. Go. Have fun,” Amber told him, hoping that maybe a night out on the town with Morgan might relax him enough that he might get a decent night’s sleep tonight, which in turn would mean she could too. The nightmares hadn’t let up and both of them had been losing sleep because of it.

“You’re sure?” he asked.

“Yes. No go before I throw you in this pull just for the fun of it.”

Spencer leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I love you,” he told her, before heading across the cement floor and toward the door. As he walked through the door, the sounds of the kids playing in the pool faded behind him.


	2. Changing Plans

_Friday Night:_

  
“Man, I wish I could move like that,” Garcia commented, as she watched the two dancers on the tv screen move across the dance floor.

“You and me both,” Amber commented, from the other end of the couch. She reached for another handful of popcorn from the bowl positioned on the cushion between them.

When Amber had gotten home that afternoon, she had decided to kill some time playing her internet role play game. She had been pleasantly surprised when she had met up with Penelope’s character online. After tagging along in their virtual world for a while, the two women had switched to talking via instant messenger. Upon discovering that neither of them had plans for the evening, Amber had invited the tech over. Garcia had jumped at the invitation and the two had ended up deciding to watch the ballroom dance competition on tv.

“Oh, come on I’ve seen you move on the dance floor,” Garcia commented. “You move just fine.”  
So engrossed in their own conversation neither girl heard the front door open as Spencer let himself into the house. He was about to call out a greeting to Amber when he heard her talking, and realized she had company.

“Oh, sure, line dance, two-step, a waltz with my father every now and then and even a passable swing-dance but nothing like this,” Amber said as the couple ended the Rhumbathey were doing. “This Penelope, is poetry in motion. Not that I wouldn’t mind taking lessons.”

“So, take lessons,” Garcia replied, as the dance came to an end and the couple on the screen took their bows.

“For what reason? So I can dance by myself?”

“You do have a fiancee.”

“A fiancee that won’t put a toe out on the dance floor. I do believe our wedding is going to be the first ever that the bride and groom do not share the traditional first dance.”

“We’ll have to see what we can do to fix that,” Garcia said, looking at the television screen as the judges began to hold up the scores. “Ah, come on! Are you blind?” the blonde yelled throwing a handful of popcorn in the direction of the tv. Only one kernel hit its intended target, as the rest fell to the floor. “These guys were so much better than the last couple, don’t you think?” Garcia said, turning to her hostess.

“Yes I do think they deserved higher scores,” Amber replied. “Throwing popcorn at the television set isn’t going to help anything though.”

Before Garcia could make a comment, both women heard footsteps behind them. Looking over the back of the couch, they saw Spencer standing in the doorway.

“Hey, Reid,” Garcia said cheerfully.

“Hi,” Spencer replied. He hadn’t expected Garcia to be here but it didn’t really surprise him much. Amber and Garcia had developed a close friendship over the last month. Thetwo had found a lot of things they had in common though their personalities couldn’t have been more opposite. Somehow Amber’s more careful and laid back personality, complimented Garcia’s more colorful, bubbly personality. It had been their mutual interest in computers that had cemented the relationship though. When the two of them started talking techno-babble as Morgan had dubbed it, the only one able to follow the conversation was Kevin Lynch.

“You’re home early,” Amber commented, as Spencer walked into the room. Reaching the back of the couch he leaned over and received a welcoming kiss from his fiancee. “I figured you and Morgan would be out late.”

“Well you’re right on that account in Morgan’s case.”

“And you’re not with him because . . .”

“The last time I saw Morgan, a woman who was probably just barely legal to be in the bar was stuffing her tongue down his throat. Somehow, I don’t think he’s going to miss me.”

“You left without telling him.”

“I left a message on his cell phone. I didn’t want to interrupt them.” Reid told her. “Just like I don’t want to interrupt the two of you. I’ll just grab my laptop and head over to my apartment.”

“Reid you don’t have to leave on account of me,” Garcia told him.

“No it’s okay. I’ve got an article that I need to work on. I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told Amber before turning and heading out of the room. As he headed up the steps, Amber looked at Garcia.

“I’ll be right back,” Amber told Garcia, getting to her feet.

“Yeah, sure,” Garcia answered, reaching into the bowl of popcorn again before turning her attention back to the television.

Amber headed upstairs and met Spencer as he was coming out of the bedroom, laptop in hand.

“You don’t have to leave,” Amber told him.

“I really do need to work on this article. The deadline is in a week.”

“So, what you plan on staying up all night and working on this article.”

“Amber, I’ll be fine,” Reid told her. “I love you for worrying about me, but you don’t have too. Spending one night alone is not going to hurt me and I promise not to stay up all night working,” he said, looking into her disbelieving eyes. “I’ll be over around lunch time and we can talk about wedding plans, okay.”

“Okay,” Amber said. “Just remember if you need to talk . . .”

“Your number is the number two on my cell phone and I know where you live,” Reid told her.

Amber smiled. Then standing on her toes, reached up to place a kiss on his lips. When they finally broke away from the kiss, the two of them walked hand-in-hand down the steps, saying good-bye once more at the door before Amber rejoined Garcia in the living room.

“Is he leaving because I’m here?” Garcia asked, looking over at Amber instead of at the dancing that was taking place on the television.

“No. I think he just wanted some time alone. Despite what any of you all may think, Spencer has not officially moved in here yet,” Amber told her, “and he doesn’t spend every night here.”

“Course not. Sometimes he’s out of town with the team,” Garcia said, with a smile.

“You’re lucky you have that glass in your hands,” Amber told the tech, who was holding her glass of tea.

“Seriously though, it seems like he spends a lot of time here. Morgan said he usually ends up dropping him off here instead of at his apartment anymore, maybe you two should consider it. It would save money not having to pay for two places.”

“Let’s not rush things now?” Amber said, holding her hands up defensively.

“Rush things. The two of you are engaged. You don’t plan on living in two different places after you’re married do you?”

“Not hardly and we’re not married yet. I thought we were watching this dance competition,” Amber said, gesturing to the tv where the most recent couple were receiving their scores from the judges.

“Right. Enjoying the dances and avoid reality for a while,” Garcia commented. “We can do that.” She reached down and picked up the bowl of popcorn. “Have some popcorn.”

Amber reached out and took a handful of the buttery snack food. ~She does have a point, ~ she thought, as she settled back to watch the next couple who were taking the dance floor. ~Spencer does spend a lot of time here. Perhaps I should bring up the subject of him just moving in.~

* * *

 

Amber flipped the two cheese sandwiches that were in the pan as she heard the front door open. “Is that you, Spencer?” Amber called out as she placed the spatula down on the counter. As her father also came into the house without knocking, she figured it could be either of them, though Spencer had said he would be on his way over soon, when she had called him before starting lunch. She wanted to know if she should be cooking for two or for just herself.

“Yeah, it’s me,” he called back. It wasn’t long before he was entering the kitchen.

Amber looked from where she was stirring the tomato soup on the stove, at the sound of his footsteps. Spencer had his hands stuffed into his pocket. He stepped just inside the doorway and leaned back against the wall. Just looking at him, Amber felt tired.

“You didn’t sleep well last night did you?” she asked.

“I got a couple of hours,” he responded. “You look well rested. At least one of us was able to catch up on their sleep.”

“You didn’t need to spend the night at your place for that reason.”

Reid shrugged his shoulders. “When did Garcia finally leave last night?”

“Around one this morning. We enjoyed some girl talk after watching the end of the competition,” Amber told him, as she turned back to the stove. Picking up the spatula, she checked the bottom of the first sandwich. Seeing that it was a golden brown, she put the spatula all the way under the sandwich and removed it from the pan, placing it on the small plate sitting on the counter. Moments later the second one had joined it. “I started a pot of co . . . “ Amber started to say as she looked over her shoulder at Reid. Seeing that he was already heading for the coffee pot, she didn’t feel as though the sentence needed an ending. “Never mind I see that you’ve figured that out,” she added as she picked up the two plates.

“Did you want a cup?” Spencer asked her, already pouring some of the dark bitter liquid into a mug.

“No. I’ve got a glass of ice tea already,” Amber replied as she placed the two plates down on the table. She then turned back to the stove, gave the soup a final stir and began dishing out two bowls of the tomato soup. Beside her, Spencer was retrieving a pack of crackers from the cabinet.

It wasn’t long before the couple was seated at the small kitchen table, enjoying the simple meal. They ate in silence for a little while before Spencer finally broke the silence.

“I hadn’t forgot about the tradition of a first dance, you know. I will do it, though you may want to wear some steel toed shoes for it.”

“Where did that come from?”

“I heard you talking to Garcia last night. As much as I don’t like dancing, I figured that was a tradition you wouldn’t want to break. Though I do hope you’re not expecting anything fancy.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll save the waltz for the father-daughter dance,” Amber told him, trying to get a smile out of him. When it didn’t work, she reached across the table and rested a hand his forearm. “Spencer, lighten up. This should be fun. Something to look forward to. Not something you dread. We could elope if you wanted to.”

“Your father would kill me.”

“Honestly, I’d be more worried about Grandma Rossi than my father if we eloped. She’s already asked me what church I plan on getting married in. I don’t think she appreciated the fact that I switched the subject on her. ”

“Wonderful. Something else to worry about,” Reid said.

“Don’t worry, Grandma will love you,” Amber told him. “What’s not to love? You’re polite, sweet, have a steady job.”

“And non-religious.”

“She’ll overlook that once she gets to know you,” Amber said as she reached for her glass of tea. “She’ll do her darndest to convert you, but she won’t condemn you for it.” Amber finished off her cheese sandwich, and pushing the plate away from her brought up another topic. “So, I think the first thing we need to decide is when and where we’re going to have the wedding. I was thinking not before the end of the summer. I don’t want to rush the planning and I’m sure we can find a church in Las Vegas to hold the ceremony.”

“Las Vegas?” Spencer said. “But most of your family, whom you were going to invite, lives out here on the East Coast. Not to mention, the team is going to consist of the majority of my guest list.”

“And the team will come to the wedding no matter where we have,” Amber told him. “As for the rest of my family, Dad will make sure Grandma makes it out there as well as helping out anyone else in the family that may need help with travel arrangements. We’ve already talked about it. We both think that its best that we keep things as stress free as possible for your mother. I know she hates flying and the wedding itself is going to be a big enough interruption to her routine.”

Reid didn’t respond right away. He was touched that she had taken his mother into consideration. That she was willing to go across the country to get married when none of her family even lived in the area of Las Vegas. Still, deep down he had known that if the wedding wasn’t out there, his mother wouldn’t be at it.

“And as we were going to keep the wedding small, I was thinking maybe instead of renting some place fancy for the receptions, perhaps Mrs. Henderson would let as use the Deset Rose Café. It was after all the site of our first kiss, remember?”

“How could I forget Vince and that mistletoe?” Reid replied. “I’ll give Mrs. Henderson a call and run the idea by her as soon as we’ve had a chance to make out a preliminary guest list. I want to give her an idea of how many people to expect when I ask her about it.”

The conversation continued as they finished eating. Amber was about to get a paper and pen to start writing out a guest list to get an estimate on the number of guests, when the phone rang.

“Hello,” Amber said picking the phone up as she walked by it.

“Hi, Amber,” came Marge’s voice over the line. “How are you?”

“I’m fine mother.”

“Do you have a few minutes to talk?”

“Yes. What’s up?” Amber asked, able to tell that her mother was excited about something.

“Carl proposed to me last night,” Marge told her.

Her mother had been dating Carl for almost a year now. Amber wasn’t sure how the relationship kept working as every time she had been around them, it seemed to be one argument after the other. As far as men went though, Carl seemed like a decent guy. Had always been polite to her. Held down a decent job. All of which put him above some of the men that she had seen her mother date.

“That’s great, Mom! I’m so happy for you!” Amber said, hoping her enthusiasm sounded genuine.

“Thanks! I knew you would be excited,” Marge replied. There was a slight pause and then she continued. “I had a great idea too. Wouldn’t it be fun to have a double ceremony?

When were you and your young man planning on getting married? Carl and I are looking at August but we’re flexible. It would be so wonderful to share the same anniversary.”

“His name is Spencer, Mom,” Amber said, wondering how long it would take her to remember his name. As for the idea, she hated it. There was no way she was getting married on the same day that her mother took her vows for the fifth time. Amber also knew she couldn’t tell her mother that. There was only one way she could think to get out of this situation, without hurting her mother’s feelings. She only hoped that Spencer would understand. “I’m sure a double wedding would be a lot of fun, but I don’t think its going to be possible. Spencer and I are thinking about waiting to set a date. We’ve only been back together a few months, so there is no reason to rush things. You and Carl should just go ahead and make your plans.”

“Are you and . . . what’s his name again?”

“Spencer,” Amber replied, trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice. ~Can’t she even remember his name for ten minutes, ~ Amber thought?

“Are the two of you having problems?”

“No, Mom. We’re not.”

“Okay but you know, you should really think about quitting your job. It’s too dangerous, especially when you decide to start a family.”

“I’m not quitting my job mother,” Amber told her. Deciding she needed to bring this conversation to an end before it turned into an argument, she decided to change the subject.

“You and Carl make your plans and let me know when the wedding will be.”

“Will you at least stand up with me? I’d like you to be my maid of honor.”

“I’d love to do that, Mother,” Amber replied, not because that was how she really felt, but because she knew that was the answer her mother expected. She had long ago learned that there were some battles worth fighting and some which she was better off surrendering.

“Great. As soon as I know the date I’ll call you. Hopefully you can find some time before the wedding so we can go dress shopping together.”

“I’ll certainly try,” Amber replied.

Mother and daughter exchanged a few more words before ending the call. As Amber hung up the phone, she looked over at Spencer.

“Why did you tell her that we’re thinking about waiting to set a date?” he asked, clearly confused.

Amber walked back to the table and sat down across from him. She slouched in the chair, suddenly feeling very tired. This whole week hadn’t gone well and this was just another disappointment. She really hadn’t wanted a long engagement, but the idea of getting married on the same day of her mother wasn’t one that she even wanted to contemplate for a moment.

“My mother just got engaged herself. The choices suddenly became wait, have a double ceremony with her and Carl, or actually try to explain to her why I don’t want to share my wedding day with her. Some battles just aren’t worth fighting. I hope you don’t mind,” Amber told him, looking across the table at him.  
Spencer stood up and walked the short distance to stand behind Amber’s chair. He placed his arms around her and leaned down to place his head next to hers. “The day issupposed to be your special day. You shouldn’t have to share it with anyone, not even your mother. If that means we have to wait, then we wait.”

“You’re not disappointed.”

“I just want you in my life,” he told her, the sincerity evident in his voice.

“I’m not going anywhere any time soon,” Amber replied.

“That’s good to know,” Reid responded, before his lips found Amber’s.

* * *

 

A few hours later, Amber and Reid were in the living room. Amber was watching the end of the movie the two of them had found on the TV, Reid having fallen asleep about twenty minutes into it. This time, it was he who was using Amber’s lap as his pillow. Amber was just happy that Reid was finally getting some sleep.

She hadn’t brought up the subject of him moving in permanently. After her mother’s phone call, it just didn’t seem like an appropriate time. She had Spencer back in her life. Saw him most days when his work didn’t take him away. Even when she didn’t see him, no matter what was going on in their jobs, they found time to call one another, even if it was only to exchange quick hellos.

Perhaps things didn’t need to change right now. With the things they were both dealing with, saying they were happy didn’t seem appropriate. One thing was true though, they were happier together than they were apart. The things that Spencer was dealing with right now he would be facing whether she was here or not and if she wasn’t here, he would be facing them without her. Having heard the details about Georgia, and not just from Spencer but Morgan and Garcia as well, and hearing him talk about the nightmares that haunted his sleep, Amber was glad she was here.

~Yes, Spencer giving up his apartment and moving in can wait. The wedding can wait. We’re together and nothing and no one can take that away from us, ~ Amber thought as she reached down and gently tucked a wayward strand of Spencer’s hair behind his ear.

As the credits began to roll, Amber’s cell phone rang. Carefully trying not to disturb Spencer’s sleep, she reached over him and managed to get a hold of the phone which was sitting near the edge. Looking at the screen, she saw her Dad’s number.

“Hey, Dad,” Amber quietly answered the phone.

“Hi, Sweetie. I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

“No. The movie I was watching is just ending and Spencer is sleeping.”

“Any plans for tonight?”

“Other than hanging around the house, nothing.”

“Then how about you and R. . . . Spencer come over for dinner and hang out here. Keep the old man company tonight.”

Amber smiled at the switched use of names. Unlike her mother, who just couldn’t be bothered with remembering Spencer’s name, her father, in an effort to put his soon to be son-in-law at ease, was making a conscious effort not to call him by his last name when outside of work. Some days were better than others.

“That sounds fine,” Amber said. “And it’ll keep me from trying to decide what to make for dinner.”

“Wonderful. Dinner will be ready at six, feel free to show up earlier,” Rossi told her.

“Okay, Dad. I’ll see you later.”

Amber disconnected the call and put the phone back on the coffee table. Reaching for the remote, which was resting on the arm of the couch, Amber began to flip through stations. She would let Spencer sleep for a few more hours before waking him up to go to dinner with her father.


	3. Gaining Ground

_En Route to Philadelphia, PA. Chapter Set during “Limelight”:_

            ~ _Take Reid with you_ ,~ Rossi stormed silently, as he kept the SUV in between the lines on the highway. ~ _Like it was just a matter of convenience as Reid was right there. I know what you’re doing Aaron and I don’t appreciate it. I’m doing just fine trying to work on the relationship I have with the kid without your help.~_

            Rossi glanced over at his co-worker sitting in the passenger seat. Reid had his hand propped up along the window and his head leaning against the window as he listened to the sounds of the first book of the Foundation Trilogy being read. The book on tape was keeping the genius quiet, but Rossi was finding that the drone of Peter Coyote reading the science fiction novel was making him wish his co-worker was spouting off some random statistics. ~ _At least there is excitement in his voice. These books on tapes always sound as if the people are being forced to read them. I’d much rather read the book myself.~_

            Besides, David Rossi had to admit Dr. Spencer Reid was starting to grow on him. There was something endearing about his youthful, naive demeanor. It was refreshing after all of the stuffy academic type people he had met over the years. Despite all he already knew, Reid still had the thirst for knowledge and he wanted to share that adventure with those around him. Annoying as that was, Dave found he preferred it to constantly feeling as though he was being lectured at, as he had in so many situations before.

            As much as he was enjoying the break from Reid’s non-stop rambling that he often got started on, Rossi was starting to wonder if the trade off was worth it. They were only halfway to Philadelphia and he wasn’t sure how much more of the book on tape he could take.

             _~That’s it!_ ~ Rossi thought, as Peter Coyote began to read the next chapter. Reaching out, Rossi hit the stop button on the cassette player and then turned off the radio. Somehow, he didn’t think the two of them would be able to agree on a radio station to listen to either. “Turn the radio back on and I’ll break your wrist,” Rossi said as he put his right hand back on the steering wheel.

            “Ah, yes, sir,” Reid managed to get out, knowing he had managed yet again to annoy one of his teammates and not knowing exactly what he had done. Rossi hadn’t voiced any displeasure against listening to the book on tape. Still, of all his teammates, Rossi was the last one he wanted to get on the wrong side of right about now. “I’m sorry, sir,” Reid added quickly.

            Beside him Rossi sighed. ~ _I could have just asked him to turn the thing off_ ,~ he admitted to himself. “I just never was a fan of books on tape,” he said out loud, trying to give his co-worker some kind of explanation.

            They drove a few miles in silence before Reid ventured to say something. “Do you think this guy actually carried out what he was clearly planning?”

            “I don’t know. Hopefully, the other material that Agent Morris has will tell us that,” Rossi replied.

            “What Agent Morris sent us was very detailed. Whoever wrote it clearly pays attention to detail and has patience.”

            “A dangerous combination in any UnSub,” Rossi replied.

            Silence fell over the SUV after that. Though both men wanted to break it, neither was sure what else to say. Rossi didn’t want to bring up some topic that would get the kid going off on some tangent that he really wasn’t in the mood to listen to. Reid knew that further discussion of the case at this point would just be speculation until they got to the Philadelphia field office and saw the rest of the material. There was another topic he wanted to bring up, not related to work at all, but he wasn’t sure if he should. Wasn’t sure if Rossi would take to it any better than he had the book on tape.

            After another couple of miles, Reid decided to venture breaking the silence. “Dave, can I ask you a question?”

            Rossi hesitated in replying. The fact that the younger agent had addressed him by his first name gave him the impression that the question was not going to be work related. Still, no matter what, the simple fact was that for the foreseeable future his life was linked to Spencer Reid’s. Fighting that fact was not going to help anything.

            “Yeah, sure. What is it?”

            “Do you think Amber and I have a chance?” Reid asked. “I mean, can we make this work? I thought Hotch and Haley had things figured out and here they are having trouble with their relationship and you’ve been married three times. Not to mention I’ve been looking at statistics for marriages . . .”

            “Okay, stop right there,” Rossi said, interrupting the young genius. “For starters, you and Amber are not some statistics. Whether the relationship the two of you have is going to work or not has nothing to do with how many other marriages in the FBI or military or whatever else group those studies covered, failed. Second, just because I failed three times to make a marriage work, doesn’t mean that the two of you can’t. No it’s not going to be easy, but when I see the two of you together, I realize just how right the two of you are for one another. It’s up to you and Amber to make that work though.”

            “Amber wants to postpone setting a date for the wedding for awhile,” Spencer told him.

            “I was wondering why that topic didn’t come up on Saturday. She had been excited about it. What happened?” Rossi asked, thinking the young man and his daughter might have had a fight. He hadn’t brought the topic up, not wanting to get involved in something if the two of them didn’t want him to know. Now that Reid had brought it up, he had to admit he was curious.

            “Marge called. Seems she’s getting married again. As soon as she suggested a double ceremony, Amber told her we were putting the wedding off.”

            “And how did you feel about that?” Rossi asked, wanting to help but not wanting to take sides either.

            “Disappointed but I can understand where Amber is coming from. Though part of me wonders if she wasn’t grateful for the excuse to put the subject off. I don’t think Amber has really changed her mind about the idea of a wedding being the death of a relationship.”

            “Yeah, I’ve heard that particular opinion of hers myself. Regret to admit that I’ve done my part to reinforce that though I never meant to. Can I give you some advice?”

            “I’ll take any advice I can get,” Reid responded quickly.

            “Well, I’ve had plenty of time to think over why my marriages never worked out and one thing I have decided is that it wasn’t all my fault. It takes two people to make a marriage work, and yes I made plenty of mistakes but so did my ex-wives. However, I’ve also figured something else out in retrospect. The mistakes that we made could have been worked through if both of us had practiced a little patience, honesty and understanding.”

            “Patience, because nothing is going to happen on your time frame. It’s going to happen when it’s time to happen. Nor is Amber always going to do what you want her to or vice versa. You’re both going to have bad days and say and do things you’re going to regret later. When that happens, take a deep breath, a step back and deal with it when things have blown over.”

            “Nobody is perfect. You’re both going to make mistakes. Don’t hide them because that will only make things worse. Finally, be understanding of each others feelings. Don’t just react to how you feel about a given situation, take into consideration where the other one is coming from.”

            As Rossi finished speaking, Reid nodded. He wasn’t quite sure he had followed everything the older man had said, but it gave him something to consider. “Thanks. I’ll think about what you said.”

            “And one more thing, don’t ever forget about Valentine’s Day. Even if this job takes you across the country and ruins whatever plans you have make sure she at least gets a delivery of flowers and a phone call from you. Make sure she knows you didn’t forget about her while you’re out chasing the monsters. You may still have some making up to do when you get back, but it’ll be a lot less than if you forget altogether.”

            “Got it,” Reid replied, a small smile coming to his face. Though still a little over two weeks away, he had already been thinking about Valentine’s Day. This was the first one he and Amber would share as an engaged couple. He wanted to make it special, and he thought he had a way to do just that. It wasn’t fancy, but if he could pull it off without things going wrong, it should be special.

  
  


            “So it looks like we’ve got a case,” Reid told Amber as he spoke to her over the phone later that night. He had been surprised when Rossi had returned from speaking with Agent Morris and told him there was a change in plans. It was then that Rossi had told him about the lock of hair that was also part of the storage lockers contents. That single lock of hair had changed the outlook on the situation. It could mean that at least one woman had fallen victim to this guy’s delusional fantasies.

             He and Rossi had checked into a hotel a few blocks from the field office and the rest of the team would be joining them in the morning. “I’m not sure how long we’re going to be up here.”

            “Well, just be careful,” Amber told him. “The both of you.”

            “We will,” Reid replied. “I love you.”

            “Love you, too,” Amber responded before they both ended the phone call.

            Reid closed his cell phone and placed it on the night table next to the single king-size bed that was in the room. He then climbed onto the bed, and settled his head on the one pillow. Reaching out, he grabbed the other pillow and pulled it closer to him, hugging it tight. He knew he had to get some sleep, but now that he was alone he was afraid to close his eyes. Afraid to let the nightmares creep in despite the light that still shone from the lamp he hadn’t turned off.

             _“For God’s will”_

             The whispered words seemed to echo throughout the room but Reid knew they were only in his head. Turning over, he looked at the cell phone sitting there. He could call Amber back. She would understand. Would stay on the line as long as he needed to her.  _~And probably end up outside my hotel room door,_ ~ Reid concluded, knowing another phone call would only worry her.

            Reid closed his eyes and immediately the image of Vaughn shooting the UnSub found its way there. He jumped at the sound of the gun shot in his mind and opened his eyes. He was greeted by the surroundings of the hotel room. With a sigh, he sat up on the bed.

            ~ _This is so not going to work. I need something to distract myself_ ,~ he told himself. Reid reached out and picked up the tv remote.

            The local news came on first and a story about a Philly police officer came on. Reid promptly switched the station only to find another news station followed by an episode of Cops. He continued switching the stations, finding nothing he would consider upbeat. When the tv rested on a station showing an intervention documentary focusing on an addict, Reid pressed the power button and tossed the remote down on the bed, in frustration.

            Getting to his feet, he walked over to the window, and pushed the curtains back. The city below him was scattered with lights of those people still awake. ~ _Making the nightmares go away used to be so easy,~_ Reid thought as he looked out into the night. ~ _It was as simple as putting the needle into my arm. A little help to make everything go away. Give me some peace. That escape is out there somewhere. I could find it if I tried,_ ~ he told himself, for the first time in a long time actually considering the thought of using again. It had been awhile since the thought had even crossed his mind. Since he had called Morgan at some strange hour in the night to keep from following through.

            ~ _Morgan. I could always call him. Yes, he would end up outside my hotel room just like Amber but he’s heading up here tomorrow anyway,_ ~ Reid reasoned even as he realized he wouldn’t go through with making the call. Morgan would come alright. He would get up here as fast as he could, without any concern to his own safety. Reid wasn’t about to put his friend at risk.

            Turning from the window, Reid headed for the room’s closet. He removed his coat and slipped it on over the t-shirt and sweat pants he was wearing. Put on his shoes and headed for the door. He would just take a walk to clear his head. Nothing wrong with that.

            Reid stepped out into the hallway, and headed for the elevator at the end of the hall. His path took him past Rossi’s room. Reid paused and looked at the door.

            Rossi was probably the only one of his teammates who didn’t know about his drug problem, having joined the team after he was on the way to recovery. As it wasn’t something his co-workers talked about, Reid felt it safe to assume that no one had told Rossi that bit of information and he had wanted to keep it that way. At first, he hadn’t wanted to admit his failure to his idol. Then it became even more important that Rossi didn’t know when he had found out Rossi was Amber’s father. It wasn’t something that he wanted his future father-in-law to know, fearing that Rossi would change his mind about thinking he was good enough for his daughter.

            ~ _Isn’t letting him know about my addiction better than taking a step backwards in that fight?_ ~ Reid asked himself, knowing that just going for a walk wasn’t what he was doing. His escape was out there and though he hated to admit me, he was craving it. ~ _It’s wrong to even consider wanting to use again. I’ll lose everything I’ve fought to gain in this battle_.~

            Reaching out, Reid knocked lightly on the hotel door of Rossi’s room. He jumped at how loud the sound seemed to him, glancing around half-expecting people to come see what all the noise was. No one did though, and it wasn’t long before Rossi was opening the door, a confused look on his face.

            “Going for a walk?” Rossi asked, taking in the younger agent’s attire.

            “Sort of,” Reid replied, stuffing his hands in the pocket of the coat. “It’s a walk I probably shouldn’t take.”

            Rossi looked at his co-worker quizzically wondering what he meant by that. Something was going on and the older agent had enough experience to know that it wasn’t trivial. Stepping aside he pushed the door open further.

            “Come in,” Rossi told him.

            Silently, Reid walked into the hotel room. Rossi watched the young man walk over to the window, which had the curtains drawn.

            “What’s this about?” Rossi asked, staring at the back of Reid’s head. He was wondering if he was going to get an answer when Reid spoke one word.

            “Georgia,” Reid replied, hoping that the elder agent’s curiosity about his new teammates had resulted in him finding out about that case, as he knew most of the bureau knew. Knew that the bare facts were listed in his file.

            “That happened almost a year ago, didn’t it?” Rossi said, knowing what Reid was referring to. A federal agent didn’t get kidnapped and held captive while working on a case without it getting around the bureau. It hadn’t taken long for Rossi to hear about it and it wasn’t long after that he was asking Hotch about it. His friend had refused to provide much information, telling him that if he wanted more details than he would have to talk to Reid. As frustrated as he was with the answer, Rossi had understood where Hotch was coming from. Inquires of other team members hadn’t gotten him anywhere either. Rossi had gotten the distinct impression that something was being covered up.

            Rossi saw the slight movement of Reid’s head acknowledge the statement.

            “I was really messed up for about four months after that,” Reid said. “Made some really bad choices. Choices that I was tempted to make again tonight.”

            “I’m not sure I understand why you’re telling me this,” Rossi said, trying to put together Reid’s cryptic words.

            “Step 10,” Reid replied.

            Suddenly it all clicked. Everyone’s reluctance to talk about it. They were protecting Reid and themselves and they hadn’t felt ready to let him in on their secret. ~ _Or perhaps their burden might be a better choice of words,_ ~ Rossi thought. He felt a whole spectrum of emotions in a matter of seconds. Found himself wondering if he should have blessed Reid’s union to his daughter. Asking himself if he would have had he known. ~ _Do I really want my daughter spending her life with a drug addict? No, a recovering addict,_ ~ he quickly corrected himself, even as he felt ashamed for the thought. ~ _I’m definitely no boy scout when it comes to drugs_ ,~ he reminded himself, thinking of the drugs he had gotten messed up with when he was a teenager.

            “Does Amber know?”

            “Yes,” Reid replied. “I’ve told her. Told her everything before I proposed to her.”

            “Good. Remember what I said about honesty in a relationship. This is definitely one of those things that you need to be honest about,” Rossi told him. He paused, trying to decide what to do. He definitely couldn’t just dismiss this. The kid had come to him, looking for help to stay on the right path. If Reid left here and went looking for a fix then he knew he would blame himself. “Why don’t you take off that coat and have a seat.”

            Reid didn’t reply, but after a moment of hesitation, he slipped out of the coat. Walking over to the nearest high back chair at the table, Reid sat down, holding his coat close to him. Rossi walked over and sat down in the chair across from him.

            “I shouldn’t be here,” Reid said quietly. 

            “Why not?” Rossi asked.

            “I shouldn’t be burdening you with this. If the wrong people find out there are already so many people who are going to be hurt by this.”

            “We’re a team, right? We face things as a team?” Rossi asked, watching Reid. The young man nodded slightly. “One thing I’ve learned these past four months is that this team is more than just co-workers. You’re all a family. One in which I’m still trying to figure out my place in but you and I, Spencer we’re going to be family outside our professional lives and family supports one another no matter what, so I think you’re right where you belong.”

            “And don’t think I don’t know what your going through. How hard it is to ignore that craving you get even though you know giving into it isn’t worth it. How important it is to have someone there to act as an anchor and keep you from doing something you know you’re going to regret.”

            Reid looked up and finally met Rossi’s eyes. “How?” he asked, hearing and seeing the sincerity of the words.

            “I had my own trouble with drugs back when I was a teenager. It was the cool thing to do. My friends and I didn’t see any harm in it. We weren’t hurting anyone. As far as we knew, nobody even knew we did it. We would get together after school or on the weekend and just get high. Escape what we thought were our troubles back then. Just some harmless fun we thought, until one of my buddies died from an overdose. His death woke me up but I found it wasn’t easy to quit. My friends sure didn’t want to, so they weren’t much help. It was my father who ended up being my anchor.”

            “I thought for sure I was going to be in big trouble, when my parents came to the hospital to pick me up that night. Was prepared to hear them yelling, and grounding me for the rest of my life. Forbidding me to do this or that. It didn’t happen. My mother just hugged me and cried. I think she was just happy it wasn’t her that had lost her son. My father, well he did lecture, but in a calm even tone. No yelling. No punishment. Just support. I remember my other friend’s parents were tossing out all kinds of punishments and one time I got up the nerve to ask my father why he didn’t punish me. You know what he told me?”

            Reid shook his head in reply.

            “He told me that punishing me and forbidding me to do the drugs wasn’t going to stop me. If I wanted to do it, I would, and that watching one of my friends die because of what we were doing was already punishment enough.”

            “So you stopped?”

            “Eventually. I still messed around with the stuff here and there for awhile after my friend died. Mostly when I was hanging out with my friends. Then I graduated from high school and went to college. Made new friends. It’s not an easy thing to put behind you but it can be done.”

            “Sometimes I wonder if that’s really true,” Reid said.

            “You’re here aren’t you and not out wandering the streets, looking for a fix. That is what you meant about it being a walk you probably shouldn’t take, isn’t it?”

            Reid nodded, not sure he could even form a one word answer.

            Sensing that talking was probably the last thing Reid was interested in right now, Rossi started talking about the case they were just starting, not so much to work on it, but as a neutral subject to fill the silence. The kid needed something to focus on other than whatever was going on inside his head right now.

  
  


            Agent Rossi watched Agent Morris as she talked to the reporters outside the hospital as he walked toward the waiting SUV. ~ _She hasn’t learned a thing through all of this. She’s going to use what happened to her own advantage and those women who died are going to fall into obscurity. Not get the proper memorial they should be due_ ,~ Rossi thought, once again seeing the man he use to be in her actions.

            Reaching the SUV, Rossi pulled the passenger side door open, bracing himself for what he was going to hear. He had been surprised when Reid had volunteered to hang back this morning with him when he had informed Hotch he wanted to check on Agent Morris before heading back to Quantico. The fact that he wasn’t bothered by that action surprised him even more. It was only four days ago when he had been upset about Hotch sending Reid up here with him.  _~Maybe Agent Morris hasn’t been changed by the events of the past few days but the same definitely can’t be said about me_ ,~ he thought, climbing into the passenger seat and noting that Reid hadn’t put the Foundation Trilogy on tape in. Instead, country music was softly playing. While not his favorite, at least it was tolerable.

            “Is Agent Morris going to be, okay?” Reid asked, as he started up the vehicle and put it into drive.

            “Physically, yes. I don’t think anything I said got through to her though.”

            “You tried. If someone isn’t ready to accept the help you’re offering though, there isn’t much you can do.”

            Rossi looked over at the younger agent, whose eyes were on the road and traffic around them as he drove through the streets of the city toward the highway. “You know, you’re the last person I expected to be getting advice from. Guess I figured there was nothing a twenty-seven year old agent could teach an old salt like me, and yet you still surprise me at times both with your intelligence and your wisdom that seems beyond your years.”

            “I’ve been through a lot,” Reid replied softly.

            “Yeah, I guess you have,” Rossi said, thinking about what he had learned about his young teammate in the four months that he had known him. From what Amber had told him, the kid had gone through things before he had turned eighteen that Rossi had seen break grown men. Yet, despite even what this past year had thrown at him, Reid still often expressed a youthful exuberance for life, that though Rossi had remembered feeling at one point in his life, couldn’t recall the last time he had felt that way. He thought of Reid’s reaction to Hotch telling him to take the kid with him, and smiled. ~ _Somewhere along the way, I forgot to take joy in the simple pleasures of life. To enjoy any moment you can, because you never know when the bad things were going to be thrown at you. Apparently everything he’s been through hasn’t made Reid forget that.~_

“Thanks for volunteering to hang back and make the drive back with me,” Rossi said.

            “I figured someone should,” Reid answered, with a slight shrug of his shoulders. They had reached the ramp for the highway. “I figured as long as I didn’t suggest listening to any books on tape, I should be safe.”

            Rossi smiled. “Yeah, how about we don’t mention that little incident to Amber, huh. Somehow I don’t think she’d take much to my threat.”

            “I won’t say a word,” Reid replied as he merged the government owned black SUV into the southbound traffic of the highway.

            Once again, Rossi found himself hoping that this relationship would work, but not just for his daughter’s sake anymore. After this week he was really starting to see what kind of man Dr. Spencer Reid was. The more he knew about the kid’s past the more he realized just how remarkable it was that he had such a positive outlook. Rossi had seen many people let less hardships than Reid had already face turn them bitter. ~ _I hope these two find a lifetime of happiness together that I wasn’t ever able to find. To figure out how to stay together no matter what life throws their way_ ,~ Rossi thought, as he found his thoughts going to Wendy. There was no doubt in his mind that his third marriage had been his happiest. ~ _I wonder what would have happened between the two of us if I hadn’t been quite so focused on my career_ ,~ he thought as he let his gaze drift to the scenery they were going by.


	4. Setting Things In Motion

Though he had a file open on the desk in front of him, for once Reid wasn’t concentrating on the paperwork. Instead, he was watching for Morgan to leave Garcia’s office. He needed to talk to the blonde tech about something, and Morgan was the last person he wanted as an audience to this conversation.  
Finally, he saw Morgan heading back toward the bullpen. Picking up the folder so it would appear as though he had something work related to discuss with the tech, Reid got up and headed in that direction. He passed Morgan with a quick acknowledgment and made it to Garcia’s office without incident, knocking on the open door as he reached it.  
Garcia swivelled her chair around to see who had knocked. “Oh, hey, Sweet Cheeks, come on in,” she said exuberantly. “I guess maybe I should stop using that particular nickname, as Amber might not take to it too well.”  
Reid felt his cheeks flush but didn’t respond to the tech’s commentary.  
“Can I do something for you?” Garcia asked, pointing to the folder.  
Reid looked down at it. He had forgotten he was even holding it. “Ah, no. At least not related to this,” he amended as he took a few more steps into the office, pushing the door shut behind him. “I need your advice on something and seeing as you and Amber have been spending a lot of time together lately and you are a woman . . .”  
“Yes, last time I looked I was indeed a woman,” Garcia interrupted cheerfully, smiling. Seeing Reid’s not so amused face, the smile faded. “Okay, continue. I’ll be quiet,” she told him.  
“No, this was a bad idea,” Reid said, turning to head for the door.  
“Freeze,” Garcia told him. “You came in here for my advice, so you better tell me what I can advise you on or I’m going to be following you around here until you do. I promise no more interruptions.”  
Reid sighed. Now that he had come in here, Garcia wasn’t going to let him go easily. He could very easily see her following him around until he told her why he had come into her office in the first place. The only thing that would save him now was a case coming in for the team, and even then he had no doubt that the blonde tech would be waiting for him when the team got back. Deciding it was better to just give in and that he really did want her advice on the situation, Reid turned back to face his co-worker.  
“Well, I wanted your opinion on my thoughts for celebrating Valentine’s Day with Amber.”  
“Wow, someone who is planning before hand. Most guys wait until the day before if not the day of, and then rush around trying to impress their lady so she doesn’t realize he almost forgot about the day altogether.”  
“I want it to be special,” Reid told her.  
“Ah, Sweetie, Amber is going to think anything you do is special because it’s you doing it.”  
“Unless I manage to mess it up like I did the proposal.”  
“You didn’t mess that up. Sure it wasn’t the most suave performance, but she said yes and that’s what’s important. Besides the picture of the two of you tangled up on the driveway afterwards is kind of cute,” Garcia said, thinking of the picture Morgan had taken on his phone and sent to her. It had taken some work, but she had been able to zoom in and fix the photo up with Photoshop.  
“What picture?” Reid asked, the color draining from his face.  
Garcia just smiled up at him without answering the question. “So what are you planning?”  
“You can’t say anything to her.”  
“And ruin the surprise. I’m too much of a romantic to do that.”  
Reid nodded. Taking a deep breath he started telling the blonde tech about his plans for the upcoming holiday including his idea of what could be considered an unconventional gift.

 

“Well thank-you for the recommendation.”  
“It was my pleasure,” David Rossi told the woman he was talking to on the phone. “You know I’m always willing to help out whenever I can. Perhaps we can even get together one evening that you’re in town and have dinner?”  
“I think I would like that. It would be nice to see a familiar face while I’m in the city,” she replied.  
“Wonderful. How about Thursday night? I’ll try to get reservations for seven o’clock.”  
“Valentine’s Day? Why David Rossi are you flirting with me?”  
“Not at all,” Rossi replied. “It will just be two friends getting together for dinner.”  
“Well, it’s been awhile since I had anyone treat me to dinner on Valentine’s Day so even your offer sounds nice.”  
“I’m going to pretend that was a compliment,” Rossi told her, as he heard a knock on his door. Looking up he saw JJ standing in the doorway. The blonde media liaison mouthed the words - “we have a case”- to him. Rossi nodded his acknowledgment and JJ moved on to get things ready in the conference room. “I’ve got to go.”  
“The job calls, huh?”  
“Well it is during normal work hours. I’ll call you with the details as soon as I’ve got reservations.”  
“Okay, stay safe.”  
“I will,” Rossi replied before hanging up the phone. Placing the receiver in its cradle, Rossi got to his feet and left his office. Seeing that Prentiss, Morgan and Reid’s desks were empty, he figured they had already gone to the conference room.  
As he walked into the conference room, a quick glance told him that he was the last one to arrive. JJ was standing next to the screen, obviously waiting to start the briefing. Even Garcia was present, Rossi noted as he slipped into the empty chair between Hotch and Reid, as the blonde began talking.  
“Detective Forbes of the D.C. Metro police called about an hour ago. They found this body,” JJ began as she hit the button on the remote, and the corpse of a red head appeared on the screen, the lower half of her body submerged in water, “along the shores of the Potomac River. Hikers found the body this morning and called it in. They’re still working on a positive identification.”  
The woman looked to be in her late teens, maybe twenty at the most. Though the long-sleeved flannel shirt she was wearing had seen better days, she appeared to be still clothed. What could be seen of the body, bore bruises and minor cuts but didn’t appear to have any signature wounds to it.  
“Okay, but why did they call us for one body?” Morgan asked, not understanding why this would be a BAU case.  
“Because they believe they have more than this body,” JJ replied. “In the pocket of the victim’s shirt they found this note.” JJ hit a button and the screen switched from the picture of the victim to a close up of said note.  
“How blind are you? I’ve been killing for almost a month now and you don’t even have a clue. Thought I might help you out though maybe you don’t care. These girls are just as unwanted in their death as they were in their lives. Runaway’s End,” Reid said out loud as he read the note.  
“He’s obviously taunting police to get attention,” Rossi said. “How do we know there are actually more bodies? He doesn’t give any specifics just claims he’s been killing.”  
“We don’t,” Hotch replied, “but somebody did obviously kill this young woman.”  
“Metro has units combing the banks of the Potomac looking for other bodies and the Coast Guard is dragging the river. They haven’t turned up any more bodies yet but they’re still taking the note seriously.”  
“From the wording of the note, I think this UnSub is going after victims that are either on the street, homeless or more likely runaways. He says they were unwanted in death as well as in life and then signs it Runaway’s End with the apostrophe indicating the end belongs to the runaway,” Reid commented. “Garcia, check the open runaway cases for the D.C. area and see if our victim is among them,” Hotch said.  
“Yes, sir,” the tech replied, getting to her feet, grateful to have an excuse to get out of the room. “Morgan, Prentiss, Rossi and Reid why don’t you all head down to the crime scene, and see what you can turn up there. I’ll stay here for now and work on some other things until we know for sure this isn’t just an isolated incident. Keep me informed on what’s going on.”  
With a nod of acknowledgment, the four profilers got to their feet and headed for the elevators. It wasn’t long before Morgan was pullieng their black SUV to a stop among other emergency responders’ vehicles. Getting out, Rossi lead the other three toward the crime scene tape. Rossi took out his badge and flashed it to one of the uniform cops standing near the tape, keeping an eye on the few gawkers that had gathered along the river bank.  
The uniformed cop nodded his acknowledgment as he lifted the crime scene tape to allow the FBI agents to duck under it.  
“Is Detective Forbes around?” Agent Rossi asked the cop.  
“Right there,” the cop replied, pointing to a middle-aged man wearing a navy dress shirt, tan slacks, and mud splattered dress shoes. He was taking long strides in their direction, a serious look on his face. The metro detective didn’t seem to have noticed the FBI agents yet.  
“Detective Forbes,” Agent Rossi called out.  
The detective looked in Rossi’s direction, for a moment looking angry at the interruption. When he realized it was an agent from the FBI addressing him, Forbes’ expression softened slightly. “You from the FBI?”  
Rossi nodded. “The Behavioral Analysis Unit. I’m Agent Rossi,” Dave said introducing himself. “These are Agents Morgan, Prentiss and Dr. Reid.”  
“I’m glad to have your help, however if you want to check out the crime scene,” Detective Forbes said, waving his hand around the area, “you’re on your own for a little while. One of the Coast Guard boats just pulled three bodies out of the river. They’re heading back to their port with them and I want to meet them there.”  
“Mind if I tag along?” Rossi asked.  
“Not at all.”  
“Prentiss and Morgan, why don’t the two of you check out the crime scene. Reid and I will go with Detective Forbes.”  
“Got it,” Prentiss and Morgan said.  
“Larson,” Forbes called out to the uniformed cop who had held the crime scene tape up for the federal agents. Seeing that he had the cop’s attention, the detective continued. “Make sure these two agents get anything they need.”  
“Yes, sir,” Larson replied stepping away from the crime scene tape and motioning for the two FBI agents to follow him. As the cop led Prentiss and Morgan in the direction that Forbes had just come from, the detective started back for his car.  
“Station Washington has all four of their boats out on the Potomac right now, searching for bodies. If there are more bodies like the note claims, the river is the most likely dump site given that this last victim was found on the banks of the Potomac and none of the other bodies were found,” Forbes informed the two federal agents.  
“Do you think there are more bodies?” Rossi asked, noting the detective’s use of the word if.  
“I don’t know,” Forbes replied opening the driver’s side of a dark-blue sedan. “What I do know is that I’ve got a maniac loose, who has killed at least one person and claims to have killed more. There are enough open missing persons and runaway cases that it’s possible he could have killed someone without anyone being aware of it. I also know that the Coast Guard has pulled three bodies from the Potomac River. Until someone convinces me otherwise,” the detective continued as he backed the car out from where it was parked and headed it in the direction the agents had just come in, “I’m going to assume they’re connected to the one found this morning. If they’re not connected, well then we’ve got more than one maniac out there.”  
“Well, we’re here to help you determine just that, Detective,” Rossi told him from the passenger seat. “We’re here to assist you in any way we can in this case, starting with determining if these victims were all killed by the same person.”  
“And how likely do you think that is?”  
“Do you know if the three bodies found in the river were in the same vicinity?” Reid asked from the back of the car.  
“Yeah, they were all in the vicinity of one another. I think the report was within a couple feet of each other. Why?”  
“Well, given that the Potomac River is the fourth largest river along the Atlantic Coast of the United States at approximately 383 statue miles long and a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles, the likelihood of three bodies being found even within a square mile of each other and not being related is extremely unlikely.”  
“So someone chose to dump the bodies in the same area?” the detective asked. He saw the ‘isn’t that what I just said’ look on the face of the young FBI agent in his rearview mirror.  
“Yes,” Rossi replied, from the passenger seat.  
“So if he dumps three bodies in the river unknown to anyone, why leave one out in the open?”  
“Because nobody knew about him,” Reid replied. “Killers like to take credit for their work. If they feel they aren’t getting that, many of them will insert themselves into an investigation, like this UnSub did with the note,” he explained, before he started citing specific examples.  
“I’m not here for a history lesson,” Detective Forbes said, interrupting Reid after a couple of minutes. “How old are you anyway?”  
“Twenty-six,” Reid replied.  
“Great, I’ve been a police officer for almost as many years as this kid has been alive,” Forbes muttered under his breath.  
“Dr. Reid has been key to solving many cases with the BAU since he started,” Rossi said putting emphasis on his teammate’s title. “You would do well to take him seriously.”  
Forbes didn’t respond to that. The car was silent for a few minutes, before Rossi started asking more questions about the case. By the time Forbes was showing his badge at the gate to the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling on which the Coast Guard’s Station Washington was located, the limited information that had been gathered by the metro police had been relayed.  
Following the directions given by the guard, it wasn’t long before Detective Forbes was pulling the car to a stop near the docks where normally Station Washington’s four 25-foot Defender Class response boats were moored. Right now only one boat was at the dock, and the Coast Guard personnel present were carrying a body bag off the boat. As Forbes, Rossi and Reid walked in their direction, the two federal agents recognized Amber among them. Seeing them, Lt. Rossi gave a slight nod to the two of them. The detective and two agents reached the group, as they placed the body bag they were carrying next to another one.  
“Detective Forbes?” one of the Coast Guard personnel asked, addressing the metro detective. At Forbes’ nod of acknowledgment the man introduced himself. “I’m Lt. Commander Hines, commanding officer of Station Washington.”  
After introducing the two federal agents, the four men started talking about the bodies that had been pulled out of the river. It wasn’t long before Lt. Amber Rossi and one of the other officers who had been on the boat had joined them, answering questions for the detective and agents, as a metro crime scene unit arrived on the scene.

 

It was almost eight o’clock at night, and Amber Rossi was just taking the lasagna she had made for dinner out of the oven. She had gotten home late, having put in some extra hours at work due to the search of the river. The three bodies she and her boat crew had pulled out of the water that morning were the only ones that had been found. Still, those three had been enough. From what she had been able to tell, all three of them had been young at the time of their deaths. Amber found herself wondering who they were. ~At least in Alaska all the bodies had names, ~ she thought as she put the dish down on the counter.  
She heard the front door open. Turning she headed in that direction. The fact that Spencer was working late to was another reason for the late dinner. She hadn’t even started dinner until he had called and said they were about ready to wrap things up for the night. Spencer was hanging up his coat and scarf as she entered the hallway.  
Amber noted that he looked tired, as she put her arms around him as he turned to face her. It had been a long day for the both of them.   
“Dinner smells good,” Spencer said, after he kissed her hello.  
“I just took it out of the oven. It’s grandma’s recipe,” Amber told him taking a step back. “Come on, let’s go eat. I’m starving and I’m sure you are too, and even if you’re not, you can’t afford to skip any meals.”   
“Why does everyone fuss over what I eat?” Spencer asked, even as he let himself be led in the direction of the kitchen.  
“Because there is nothing to you,” Amber told him.  
It wasn’t long before the couple was sitting at the small table in the kitchen, with a plate of lasagna and a bowl of salad in front of them. They were almost through the meal when Amber brought up the subject of the victims.  
“Were they able to identify the bodies we pulled out this morning?” Amber asked, as she stood up to rinse her plate.  
“Yeah, we’ve got Ids on all the victims, that’s why we stayed so late tonight. We were working on the victimology,” Spencer replied.  
“Who were they?” Amber asked, turning the water on and holding the plate under the running water.  
“All the victims matched up with local open runaway cases,” Spencer replied, his mind replaying the discussion that he and his co-workers had engaged in back in the conference room. The victims were also all in their late teens and had red hair. This UnSub was targeting teenage, redheaded runaways for some reason. Finding out why would help them locate him.  
“I meant their names, Spencer,” Amber replied.  
“Honey, it doesn’t really matter d . . .”  
Spencer never finished what he was saying as the sound of the plate breaking in the sink as Amber tossed it down, interrupted him.  
“It does matter! Each of those bodies we pulled out of the river today was a person. An individual whose life had as much worth as anyone else.”  
“I know that,” Spencer said getting to his feet. He crossed slowly over to her as he continued to speak, as Amber still stood with her back to him, hands gripping the sink. “Amber, the most recent body had been in the water for the past three days. There wasn’t anything you could do to save them,” he told her as he heard Garcia’s report in his mind. ~”The ME says the cause of death for all four victims was wet drowning,” the tech had reported walking into the conference room. That meant that all four teenagers had been alive when they drowned.~ “What difference does knowing what their names were make?” Spencer asked softly.  
Amber turned to face him, tears glistening in her eyes. “Because at least if I know their names, I can personalize them. They aren’t just cold bodies that I pulled from the water.”  
Spencer reached out and pulled her close to him.  
“Either you can tell me or I’ll find out some other way, but I will learn their names,” Amber told him, as she rested her head against his chest.  
As he held her tight against him, Spencer told her the names of the three victims that the Coast Guard had pulled from the Potomac River earlier that day as well as a bit of the information that Garcia had managed to learn about each of them.

1 a.m., Feb. 13th, on the Potomac River:  
Petty Officer Dan Kline steered the Coast Guard boat down the center of the river. There was no other traffic at this time of the night. Though apparently alone on the river, Lt. Amber Rossi and Ensign Jason Suarez stood in the cabin of the RB-S Defender Class boat, with Kline, their eyes focused toward the shoreline of opposite river banks.  
Commander Hines had initiated the constant twenty-four hour patrols after the fifth body had turned up two days after they had pulled the three bodies from the river. This victim, a seventeen year old, redhead named Darcy Mayze had been located thanks to her killer. The UnSub had left a note on Detective Forbes’ front door that morning, telling him that he had killed another and where her body had been dumped in the icy river. It hadn’t taken long for the Coast Guard to locate and bring up Darcy’s body. Like the other victims, she still had on her clothes and wet-drowning was the cause of death. Detective Forbes had checked his family into a motel under his wife’s maiden name, unnerved by the fact that the UnSub knew where he lived.  
Over the last couple of days, no more notes had arrived. Despite metro police and the Coast Guard having the profile given by the agents of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, no leads had been found. Commander Hines was hoping that the patrols might catch the guy in the act when he went to dump the next body. Given the natures of the previous victim’s death, if he was caught at the right time they could possibly be in time to save the victim. They had to locate the killer first though.  
“Spending a cold February night out on the river, is so not my idea of fun,” Suarez commented, even though all three officers were within the cabin of the boat.  
“If you think this is cold, spend February in Kodiak, Alaska,” Lt. Rossi said, not taking her eyes from the waters they were patrolling.  
“No thanks,” Suarez answered.  
The three Coast Guard members fell into a watchful silence after that. A silence that was interrupted by Suarez about ten minutes later.  
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing in the direction of the shoreline he had been watching.  
Coming to stand beside Suarez, Lt. Rossi looked in the direction that Kline was pointing. In the dim light of the moon, she could make out the silhouette of a lone figure leaving the shore in a small boat.  
“Kline, kill the searchlight,” Lt. Rossi, being the most senior officer present, ordered. “Let’s check it out but I don’t want him knowing we’re here for as long as possible.  
“Yes ma’am,” Kline responded, as he turned off the boat’s searchlight. The area around the boat was plunged into darkness. Pulling back on the throttle, Kline pointed their boat in the direction of the smaller boat, the slower speed making them less noticeable to others sharing the river with them.  
Lt. Rossi stepped out of the cabin of the boat, and made her way to the front of the boat. Suarez, grabbing the bullhorn as he walked past it, followed her. It wasn’t long before he was standing by Rossi. Both officers watched as they got closer to the other boat. The one figure that they had seen was sitting in the back of the boat, hand on the boat’s small outboard motor. Intent on his own destination, the guy didn’t see the Coast Guard boat headed his direction until they had gotten quite close to him. Lt. Rossi knew that they were close enough now that if the guy on the boat decided to try making a run for it, the RB-S they were on could easily overtake him.  
Glancing to her right at Suarez, Lt. Rossi took note that he had the bullhorn in his hand. Glancing back to the smaller boat, she noticed the man had noticed their presence. “Go ahead, and order him to stop,” Rossi told Suarez, part of her wondering if the man would comply or if he would try to make a run for it. She motioned to Kline to switch the search light back on, so they would have more light.  
Suarez gave a slight nod, even as he raised the bullhorn to his mouth. “This is the United States Coast Guard, you are ordered to bring your vessel to a stop and prepare for us to come along of side you.”  
Both Coast Guard officers waited to see what the guy would do. Deciding that trying to make a run for it wasn’t in his best interests he cut the motor.  
“Stay alert. I’ll be right back. I’m going to radio the situation in,” Lt. Rossi informed Suarez, walking back toward the cabin.  
“Yes ma’am,” Suarez replied, putting down the bullhorn, and letting his right hand come to rest on his firearm. As they closed in on the other boat, Suarez could tell the guy was nervous by reading his body language. He had a feeling this was not going to go as smoothly as it appeared to be going right now.


	5. Ending The Standoff

   The ringing of his cell phone brought Reid out of the fitful sleep he had been in. Reaching out, he grabbed the phone from the night stand and answered it without looking to see who was on the other end.

            “Hello,” Reid said groggily.

            “Reid, it’s Hotch,” Hotch’s voice greeted him over the open line. “The Coast Guard is in a stand-off with a man they believe is the UnSub. Meet me at the docks on base.”

            “Yes, sir,” Reid replied, suddenly feeling awake. ~ _Amber’s out there tonight_ , ~ was the thought that went through his head, as he threw back the blankets and climbed from his bed. He hoped fervently that she and her fellow co-workers were safe and that nothing happened to them.

            It wasn’t long before he was dressed and behind the wheel of his car. He made good time heading to the base, and had no trouble at the gate as the guard on duty was one who had seen the FBI agents often over the course of the case. As he pulled his car to a stop near the docks, he noticed Hotch’s SUV was already on the scene. Getting out of the car he spotted the unit chief in a group with a couple of metro police officers and Coast Guard officers. As Reid joined the group, Hotch was donning a life jacket over the bright orange cold weather gear of the Coast Guard.

            “He coming with us?” Detective Forbes asked, already in his own Coast Guard issued gear.

            Hotch glanced in Reid’s direction before answering an affirmative to the detective’s question. Immediately, another Coast Guard officer produced another set of the cold weather gear. Taking off the winter coat and scarf he was wearing, Reid started putting on the gear the officer was handing to him. When everyone going out on the boat was in the proper attire, Lt. Commander Hines motioned for them to follow him.

            “The report from the boat we have out there already is that two of our officers are in a standoff with the suspect who is holding a knife to the victim’s throat,” Lt. Commander Hines informed the detective and two federal officers as they headed toward one of the other three boats at the dock, a second Coast Guard officer preceding them. Hotch was on his phone with Rossi, letting the other agent know that he and Reid were going out with the second boat. “They’re trying to talk him down.”

            “Do they have they okay to shoot?” Detective Forbes asked.

            “If they can get a clear shot without putting the victim in danger, yes,” Hines said as they all climbed on board the boat. “Our priority is the victim’s safety at this point.”

            With the five of them on board, the boat pulled away from the dock and headed out to where the first RB-S was. Lt. Commander Hines was keeping tabs on the situation over the radio via Kline. The other Coast Guard boat was just coming into sight when the sound of a gunshot split the night. Following the shot, Kline couldn’t be reached on the radio, and after telling his subordinate to push the RB-S as fast as it would go, the commanding officer of Station Washington stepped out of the cabin and headed for the front of the boat. The three law enforcement personnel followed them. In the distance, they could see the silhouette of people on the other two boats. Two appeared to be struggling with one another while the other two appeared to be leaning over the side of the Coast Guard boat which was entirely blocking the view of the other boat. Then the two struggling figures disappeared from view.

            Standing next to him, Hotch heard Lt. Command Hines muttered something under his breath. Though he remained quiet, the federal agent understood how Hines felt. ~ _What is going on over there?_ ~ he asked silently, as they closed in on the other two boats.

            Nearing the other vessels, the Coast Guard officer at the controls of the RB-S slowed the boat down, bringing the boat to a stop alongside the other two vessels. Kline and Lt. Rossi were helping the victim, a dark-haired teenager, from the smaller boat of the suspect onto the Coast Guard vessel. The girl’s sobs could be heard in the quiet of the night.

            In the frigid water on the far side of the smaller boat, Suarez was struggling with the suspect. Relying on his own view and hand motions from Lt. Commander Hines, the Coast Guard officer carefully maneuvered their boat around the suspect’s smaller boat to get closer to the two currently in the frigid waters of the Potomac River. Finally getting the upper hand on the suspect, Ensign Suarez was able to connect an upper cut to the suspect’s jaw, dazing the man. Taking advantage of the guy’s dazed condition, Suarez turned the suspect around, so that he had him in a rescue swim hold. Suarez then swam the short distance to the Coast Guard boat where Hines and Hotch were leaning over the side of the boat.

            “Suspect has a gunshot wound to the right shoulder,” Suarez told them, as he passed the man to the other two.

            Hines and Hotch pulled the suspect on board and turned him over to Forbes and Reid who were standing behind them. As Forbes started reading the suspect his rights, Hotch and Hines turned back to pull Suarez out of the river and onto the boat.

            “Definitely not the time I want to take a dip in the Potomac,” Suarez commented, feeling the cold despite the cold weather gear he was wearing.

            “Are you okay, Ensign?” Hines asked.

            “Yes, sir.”

            “Then get yourself inside the cabin where it’s a little warmer.”

            “Yes, sir,” Suarez replied, maneuvering around the other men on the boat toward the rear of the vessel.

            “Lt. Rossi, how’s the victim?” Lt. Commander Hines shouted, looking in the direction of the other boat which wasn’t more than a few feet away.

            “Shaken but she’ll be okay,” Lt. Rossi called back. Behind her Kline was helping the girl toward the cabin of their boat. “Should I come over there and see if I can patch him up some on the way in, sir?”

            Hines glanced over at the suspect sitting on the floor of the boat, Forbes and Reid standing over him. He was more alert now, then when they had pulled him out of the river, but was shivering and blood had soaked through the jacket he was wearing.

            “Good idea, Lt.” Hines said.

            It wasn’t long before the two Coast Guard vessels were side by side. With the help of the others, after turning over command of the boat to Kline, Lt. Rossi carefully made the transfer over to the other boat, while Hotch transferred over to the other boat to talk to the victim. As Lt. Commander Hines gave the order to the officer in the cabin to head back to port, on the other boat, Kline attached the suspect’s boat to the Coast Guard boat before turning his own boat back toward port.

  
  


            Agents Rossi and Morgan were waiting on the dock when the Coast Guard boat arrived back at port. Not far behind the two of them, paramedics waited for the arrival of their two patients, the suspect and the victim who would be checked out at the hospital before reunited with her family. As the boat pulled up to the dock, the FBI agents and the paramedics moved forward.

            Lt. Rossi, Detective Forbes, Reid and the suspect were all on the open deck of the front of the boat. The suspect was cuffed, but Lt. Rossi had bandaged up the shoulder, getting the bleeding under control. Forbes and Reid were standing nearby watching the suspect like hawks. The other three Coast Guard personnel had retreated to the cabin.

            “Where’s Hotch?” Morgan asked Reid as he and Rossi approached the boat. The paramedics were right behind him.

            “On the second boat, with the victim,” Reid replied.

            “The victim still alive?”

            “Yes,” Lt. Rossi replied. “Very shaken up but she should be okay,” she told him. She shifted her attention to the paramedics behind the two federal agents. “Patient has suffered cold-water exposure and a GSW to the right shoulder,” she informed the medics, with a nod toward the suspect.

            As the paramedics stepped onto the boat, Lt. Rossi stood up to move out of their way.

            “Yeah, the crazy bitch shot me,” the suspect said.

            “Perhaps you should exercise that right to be silent,” Reid suggested, his voice having an edge to it.

            The suspect looked in his direction, ready to say something to the agent. Upon seeing the cold glare that Reid was fixing him with the suspect turned his head forward to find that Lt. Rossi was now standing directly in front of him, looking down at him.

            “You’re making me wish I hadn’t just aimed for your shoulder,” Lt. Rossi told the suspect.

            “Aim. You probably couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with that gun. I’m just lucky the bullet got me in the shoulder.”

            “How about we put an apple on your head, I walk away twenty paces and try shooting the apple? Perhaps I can get another lucky shot in,” Lt. Rossi told the suspect, holding the man’s gaze without blinking.

            Detective Forbes and the agents present fought to keep the smiles off their faces at her words. It was the suspect who finally looked away. Having stared the man down, Lt. Rossi stepped off to the side to give the paramedics room to work, giving the city paramedics the rest of the information she could give him.

            “Well, I can see that she is definitely your daughter, Rossi,” Morgan commented as he stood next to the older profiler standing on the dock.

            “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rossi said, with mock innocence.

            Having secured the RB-S to the dock, the officer that had accompanied Lt. Commander Hines went back to the cabin. The base commander was still there with Ensign Suarez.

            “Walsh,” Hines said, addressing the officer stepping into the cabin, “I want you to accompany Ensign Suarez back to the base so he can get out of the wet clothes. I’ll be there shortly.”

            “Yes, sir,” the two Coast Guard Officers replied, before heading out of the cabin and disembarking the boat.

            Station Washington’s base commander followed the two out of the cabin, as the second boat approached the dock. Hines walked over to Lt. Rossi. The paramedics had secured the suspect to a backboard and were getting ready to transport the suspect to one of the waiting ambulances.

            “I’ve got him from here,” Forbes said, addressing the FBI agents. “I’ll let you know when we’re ready to interrogate this guy. I’m assuming you’ll want somebody present for the interrogation.”

            “We’d appreciate it,” Rossi replied as Morgan helped the paramedics transfer the suspect from the boat to the docks.

            As Forbes left with the paramedics, Reid, Hines and Lt. Rossi stepped from the boat onto the docks.

            “Good work out there, Lt.” Commander Hines said.

            “Thank-you, sir.”

            “Debriefing in a half-hour up at the station.”

            “Yes, sir,” Lt. Rossi replied before her commanding officer turned to follow the other set of paramedics to the second boat which was now moored in it spot along the docks.

            “Are you okay?” Agent Rossi asked his daughter, the concern evident in his voice.

            Lt. Amber Rossi bristled slightly at her father’s question. Though she loved him, this was the last place that she wanted him to get paternal on her. Not only was she an adult, she was a lieutenant in the United States Coast Guard. What had transpired was just part of the job and while she wouldn’t mind talking to him about this at his house or in her own home, she wasn’t about to here.

            “I’m fine, Agent Rossi. It’s all just part of the job,” Lt. Rossi replied.

            “Good to hear, Lieutenant,” Agent Rossi replied, getting his daughter’s message.

            “If you all will excuse me, I’ve got things I need to take care of,” Lt. Rossi told them. The three federal agents nodded. Before leaving, she glanced at Reid. “I’ll call you later,” she told him.

            Reid nodded in acknowledgment, as Lt. Rossi headed in the direction her fellow officers had taken.

            “Did you step out of line, Old Man?” Morgan asked, a teasing lilt to his voice.

            “You know, I really hope you have a daughter of your own some day,” Rossi replied. “You’ll realize just how frustrating it can be to deal with them and how the littlest things can make you lose sleep at night, even when they are grown,” he told Morgan before stepping in between the two of them and heading in Hotch’s direction.

  
  


            Reid glanced up from his computer screen at Rossi’s office. He and Hotch had gotten back a half hour ago from the interrogation of the suspect that had been caught last night, whose name was Kyle Marshall. Marshall had spent the night at the hospital under police custody and had been released that morning. He had immediately asked for a lawyer and the interrogation was scheduled for early afternoon, after a lawyer could join them. Given that the victim, Rebecca Coale, had survived and the Coast Guard had caught him red-handed with her in the boat, charges for her kidnapping were not a problem. Forbes was determined to be able to get him for the previous murders too. Upon returning, Hotch had told them that despite Marshall admitting to nothing concerning the first victims, the DA was going through with the charges and the case would go to trial. Marshall would be held without bail until the conclusion of the trial.

            Deciding that he had waited long enough for the older profiler to get himself settled, Reid stood up and headed toward Rossi’s office. Reaching the doorway, he knocked on the open door.

            At his desk, Rossi looked up at the sound of the knock. Seeing Reid, he motioned for him to enter. “What can I do for you?”

            “I wanted to ask a favor of you?” Reid said hesitantly. “I know it’s last minute, and you probably have plans of your own, so if you can’t do it totally understand. Garcia was going to help me out but her plans changed.”

            “Well, how about you let me know what it is you need and I can let you know if I can help you out,” Rossi replied, smiling at the younger man’s nervousness.  _~Only Reid can say so much without actually asking what it was that he had wanted to ask,_ ~ he thought.

            “I needed someone to keep Amber away from the house tomorrow afternoon so I can set things up. I figured I would cook dinner instead of taking her out.”

            Rossi nodded and mentally went over his own schedule. As his friend had insisted on meeting him at the restaurant, he didn’t have to factor in picking her up. Though it was supposed to only be two friends going out to dinner, Rossi had no intentions of showing up at the restaurant on Valentines Day with no flowers. Still, he could stop by the florist before dropping Amber off at her home.

            “Well, I did make dinner reservations for tomorrow, however if you can have things ready by six-thirty, then I can help you out and still make my seven o’clock reservation.”

            “That would be great,” Reid replied with a feeling of relief. When Garcia had told him this morning that she couldn’t keep Amber occupied tomorrow afternoon, he had been sure all of his plans were unraveling before the holiday got here. “Thank-you, sir,” Reid added, before he turned and headed out the door.

            As his younger co-worker headed back to his desk, Rossi picked up the phone and dialed his daughter’s house number. As she had pulled the graveyard shift last night, Amber was off today. The question was whether she was awake or not. Rossi figured there was less of a chance of waking her up if he called the house phone which only had the downstairs line rather than her cell phone. He thought was going to get the answering machine when she finally picked up.

            “Hello.”

            “Hi, Sweetie. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Rossi asked as he leaned back in his chair, mentally trying to decide what the best way was to get her to hang out with him the following afternoon was.


	6. Valentine's Day

        As he finished setting the table, minus the plates which he planned to bring out with the food on them, Reid took a step back from it to make sure everything was in order. For starters, he had set the table in the dining room, instead of the smaller one in the kitchen that he and Amber normally used when it was just the two of them. A red tablecloth covered the table. In the center of the table he had placed a vase containing six white roses and six sterling roses. On either side of the vase, a silver candle had been placed in matching glass candle holders to be lit when they sat down to eat. A bucket of ice awaited the bottle of wine that was still in the refrigerator. He had set places in the middle of the long sides of the rectangular table, moving the other chairs off to the side of the room for the night.

            Satisfied that things were in order, Reid turned to head back to the kitchen to start the dinner he had planned for tonight - veal parmigiana, a rice pilaf, green beans and garlic bread. Dessert was going to be a homemade peach pie, from a recipe that he had gotten from Mrs. Henderson. He wasn’t sure if it was what most people would consider a nice Valentine’s Day dinner, but it was one that he knew Amber would enjoy, as veal parmigiana was one of her favorite foods. As he passed the stereo, Reid checked to make sure the CD of romantic jazz songs was ready. Approaching the doorway of the room, he was careful not to disturb the trail of red rose petals that graced the floor from the dining room to the front door.

            As Reid started the dinner preparations, he thought about what had transpired at the office that day. Of course Garcia couldn’t let a holiday pass without making it her own. The blonde tech had been dressed in red from the red bow she had clipped in her hair to the red shoes on her feet. Anticipating that many of her co-workers would not take it upon themselves to wear red, she had come armed with a bunch of red rose boutonnieres which she cheerfully pinned to anyone she caught not wearing red. Even Hotch had been wearing one within an hour of Garcia being in the building. ~ _Though perhaps she went a little overboard with the heart-shaped confetti,_ ~ Reid thought, thinking that the janitorial staff was going to have a hard time cleaning it up tonight. Morgan had brought in a single yellow rose for each of their female teammates.

            The biggest surprise, however, had happened around lunchtime. A delivery man came in carrying a vase of twenty-four yellow roses with red tips. Reid had been in JJ’s office when the delivery guy knocked on the door asking for Jennifer Jareau. When JJ had spoken up, the man had placed the vase on her desk and then left. By this time, Garcia and Prentiss had been attracted to the office and were standing in the doorway.

            “Who are they from?” Prentiss asked, as JJ had plucked the card from among the roses.

            JJ blushed slightly as she read the card. “Just an old friend,” she replied, as she quickly tucked the card into the top middle desk drawer.

            “You know, yellow roses with a red tip generally have the meaning that you’re falling in love,” he had replied casually, even as he shared a look with Prentiss and Garcia. Though their media liaison thought her relationship with a certain police detective in Louisiana was unknown to her teammates, Prentiss, Morgan, Reid and Garcia had figured it out months ago. They weren’t about to confess that to JJ though. _~Let her think she’s got a secret from us if it makes her happy_ , ~ Reid thought.

            Yes, it had been a nice day at work. They had all spent the day working on paper work, most of it having to do with their most recent case. Though Marshall’s trial had yet to be set, they wanted to make sure they were ready for it when it was.

            As Reid finished dishing the food onto two plates, he glanced up at the clock which read six twenty-five. Rossi should be dropping off Amber shortly. Leaving the plates on the counter, he glanced at the timer that was counting down how long the peach pie had been baking. There was still fifteen minutes left on it, as he left the kitchen and walked back to the dining room.

            Back at the table, Reid picked up the book of matches he had left there, and started to light the candles. After lighting the second candle, he lifted the match, intending to blow it out and instead dropped it on the table cloth. Reid quickly grabbed the closest goblet and flipped it over to cover the match. Eventually the flame extinguished from the lack of oxygen. Reid picked up the goblet and the match, and looked at the scorched area of the table cloth.

            ~ _Well, so much for everything looking perfect_ , ~ he thought, as he headed to the kitchen with the goblet and match.

            He disposed of the match, grabbed a new goblet, the bottle of red wine from the refrigerator and headed back to the dining room with them. One trip later, he was placing the plates on the table. Stepping back, he looked at the table again. Everything looked all right, well except for the blackened table cloth that stood out to him like a hunter’s orange vest in the woods, but it couldn’t be helped. He heard the front door open.

            “Spencer, where are you?” Amber called out, a hint of confusion in her voice.

            “Just follow the rose petals,” he called out to her, as he headed for the stereo. It wasn’t long before the soft strains of jazz music filled the air.

            It wasn’t long before Amber, dressed in the red blouse and black slacks she had changed into at the base before her dad had picked her up, was standing in the doorway.

            “Happy Valentine’s Day,” Spencer said, walking over to her.

            Amber looked at the table, down at the rose petals on the floor, back at the table and then back at Spencer. “This is lovely,” she told him, as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly. “I love you.”

            “I love you too,” he told her, glad that she had enjoyed the surprise dinner. He had been worried she would be upset that they were eating in instead of going out. They shared a long, deep kiss. When they finally broke for air, it was Spencer that spoke. “How about we sit down to dinner before it gets cold.”

            The two of them walked over to the table. Reaching the table, Spencer took a hold of the chair and pulled it out for Amber. Once she was seated, he grabbed the bottle of red wine, easily got the cork out with the corkscrew, and reached for her goblet to pour the wine. Once her glass had wine in it, he walked around the table to his own place. Spencer poured his own wine, and placed the bottle back into the bucket of ice. Before taking his own seat though, he managed to knock his glass over with his arm.

            “Shoot!” he exclaimed, quickly grabbing for the cloth napkin that was on the table to keep the wine from running off the table and onto the carpet.

            “I’ll go get something to clean that up with,” Amber said standing up.

            It wasn’t long before she returned to the dining room, a roll of paper towels and a plastic bag in tow. In a matter of moments they were able to get the red wine cleaned up, and the wine soaked paper towels were placed in the plastic bag. Amber poured Spencer another glass of wine, placed the bottle safely in the bucket of ice, and they both sat down. After a quick blessing on the food the two of them began to eat, casual conversation passing easily between them. So easily in fact that Spencer didn’t realize he had forgotten about the pie that was still in the oven.

            “Is that smoke?” Amber asked.

            Amber didn’t quite catch what Spencer had said, as he jumped to his feet and hurried from the dining room. Wondering what was going on, Amber got up herself and followed him. Reaching the kitchen, she was greeted with the site of smoke coming from the oven. Spencer had grabbed potholders and had pulled the burnt peach pie from the oven. As he went to place it on the top of the electric stove, his finger touched part of the hot Pyrex dish. With an exclamation of pain he let go of the dish, which was over top of the stove by this point.

            “What happened?” Amber asked rushing toward him.

            “My finger touched the pie dish briefly. It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

            “Yeah, I’ll be the judge of that,” Amber told him, guiding him over to the sink.

            She turned on the cold water and put Spencer’s hand under the stream of water just as the kitchen’s smoke detector went off. Spencer started to move away but Amber held his hand under the stream of water. “I’ve got it. Keep that finger in the water,” she ordered as she moved toward the smoke detector.

            Reaching up, she took the smoke detector off the wall, and silenced it. Then leaving the kitchen she went into the entry hall, and placed the device on the stand against the wall to keep it away from the smoke from the burnt pie. Heading back to the kitchen, she turned the fan above the stove on, to help clear the smoke and then opened the one window near the door leading onto the back porch. Amber then crossed back over to Reid, glancing at the clock as she did so.

            “Can I take my hand out of the water?” he asked.

            “Not yet,” she told him. At his exasperated look, she added, “the hazard of dating a paramedic.”

            Reid looked over at the burnt pie still sitting on the stove. “Sorry about dessert. I can’t believe I forgot about the pie still being in the oven.”

            “Not to worry,” she told him. “I can think of something else I would rather have for dessert,” she added, in a low, sultry tone.

            The suggestive comment did not elicit the response Amber had been hoping for. Instead, Spencer’s face took on the lost puppy-dog expression that came so naturally to him, without him realizing it. “I wanted this night to be perfect. Instead, I burn the table cloth, spill the wine, burn the pie and here we are with you fussing over a minor burn while the rest of our dinner is getting cold.”

            “Relax,” Amber told him, resting her hand on his shoulder. “It’s fine.”

            “No, it isn’t,” Spencer said frustrated. “I’m sure this,” he said, indicating the hand under the running water with his other hand, “is not how you expected to spend your Valentine’s.”

            “Spencer, life is seldom what we expect,” Amber told him. “As for this evening, you want to know what I’m going to remember? I’m going to remember how my fiancee went out of his way to cook me a nice dinner, set a romantic mood, and bought me a beautiful bouquet of roses. It doesn’t matter what happens because I get to share my life with the man I love. I don’t need perfection because all I need is you,” she told him, leaning close to give him a kiss. “Now let’s see what this finger looks like.”

            Amber turned off the water, and took a look at the burn. The skin was red but didn’t look like it was going to blister. “I’ll be right back,” she told him, before running upstairs to grab the aloe gel and a sterile gauze bandage.

  
  


            David Rossi parked his SUV in the restaurant parking lot at five minutes of seven. Grabbing the small bouquet of four yellow roses, interspersed with baby breath that he had picked up from the florist on his way to dropping Amber off at home, he climbed from the vehicle and headed toward the entrance of the restaurant. As he approached the front door, he saw the woman he was meeting approaching from the other direction.

            “Hello Wendy,” David Rossi greeted his third ex-wife as they met in front of the restaurant entrance. “You look lovely.”

            Wendy Dupree, as she had gone back to her maiden name after their divorce, had her graying hair pinned up. The free flowing calf-length skirt of the navy dress she wore was visible below the black, wool, winter coat she wore. Emerald earrings graced each earlobe.

            Wendy was now an advertisement consultant for a big advertisement firm in New York City. After bouncing around from job to job following her separation from David Rossi, she had landed her current job and had been quite happy there. Though she had dated a few men, here and there, she hadn’t gotten serious with anyone. While she missed the companionship of a long-term relationship at times, she couldn’t say she wasn’t happy. She had made several friends during her time in NYC and still kept in contact with her stepdaughter.

            “Thank-you,” Wendy answered as she accepted the bouquet of roses that Dave held out to her. As flattered as she was that he had brought roses, she was also glad that they were yellow, the color of friendship. Right now, that was all she wanted from David Rossi.

            “Shall we go eat?” Dave suggested holding out his arm to her.

            With a nod, Wendy looped her arm through his and Dave escorted her into the restaurant.

            Dave gave his name to the maitre d’, who checked the list, and promptly escorted the pair to a table along one side of the crowded restaurant. A waiter appeared promptly after the maitre d’ had left their table. After Wendy had deferred the wine choice to Dave, the federal agent made a selection and left to get their drink.

            “So you have Amber nearby for a while I hear,” Wendy ventured as she glanced over the menu, trying to decide on what she wanted to eat.

            “Yes, her current posting has her working in D.C. It’s been enjoyable though I don’t know how long she’s going to be here. The Coast Guard tends to move their personnel around as they see fit. Have you seen her while you were in town?”

            “Yes, we met for coffee yesterday afternoon. She seems much happier than she had been. Wish I could have met this fiancee of hers, Spencer right?” Wendy asked looking to Dave for confirmation. Dave gave a single nod. “He seems like a fine young man, and Amber certainly is taken with him though for her sake I hope he isn’t a work-alcoholic.”

            “Like I was?” Dave ventured, finishing the unspoken sentiment.

            “I didn’t say that.”

            “No, but it is the reason you left me isn’t it? At least I can’t think of anything else I might have done. You always seemed to enjoy the time we did spend together and as far as I know there wasn’t another man in the picture.”

            “No, Dave I wasn’t seeing anyone else, I just tired of playing second fiddle to the BAU.”

            Dave nodded. He couldn’t fault her for that. Looking back, he could see how he had often put his job above his family. It was a hazard of the territory. It was so easy to become obsessed with tracking down the bad guys, thinking that by doing so you’re protecting the ones you love from some unknown threat. He wasn’t the only one that had fallen victim to that kind of blindness and he probably wouldn’t be the last.

            The waiter reappeared with the wine, and he poured each of them a glass before placing the remainder of the bottle in a bucket of ice. As Dave and Wendy had been looking over the menu during their conversation both were ready to order. After taking their requests, the waiter left the table to place the orders.

            “Amber said Spencer works with you?”

            “Yes, he’s one of the members of the team I work with. Quite a remarkable young man actually.”

            “But, not good enough for your daughter?” Wendy questioned, reaching out and picking up her wine glass. She lifted the glass to her lips as Dave responded to the question.

            “Actually, I think he is good enough for her,” Dave told her. “Not that I’m completely at ease with the thought of giving my little girl away, but as I have to, I don’t think she could have made a better choice. I’m just hoping they don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

            “Well, well, I never thought I would ever see the day that David Rossi would ever admit to making mistakes,” Wendy commented, the smile playing at her lips softening the words.

            “What can I say, I’ve done a lot of reflecting in my old age. There are definitely things I would change if I had a chance to do them over,” Dave told her.

            Wendy looked across the table at the man she had once been married to. The man she had once loved and had to admit that a part of her still did. Deciding that his last comment was pointing toward a door she really didn’t want to open at this point in time, Wendy decided not to comment on it but instead steered the conversation in another direction.

            “So Dave, what possessed you to go back to the bureau? Did your book tours become too routine for you?”

            “Would you believe me if I told you I simply ran out of material?” Dave replied, with a wry smile. He hadn’t told anyone yet about his true intentions of coming back to the BAU. About the one unsolved case that wouldn’t stop haunting him. Perhaps sharing that with someone would lessen the burden. He knew his secret would be safe with her, as Wendy had never been the type to go blowing confidences even when she was mad at the person who had confided in her.

  
  


            Their meal had concluded without further incident. Spencer had suggested that Amber go find something to watch on TV while he cleaned things from their dinner up. Reluctantly, she did so though she kept an ear out for any sounds of something breaking as she relaxed on the couch, slowly flipping through channels. Finally, she settled on a romantic movie that was playing.

            It wasn’t long before Spencer was joining her in the living room. As he sat down next to her on the couch, he held a card out to her. Taking the card from him, she opened it, smiling as she read the romantic words of the card he had picked out. As she flipped it open, a small rectangle card fell out of it.

            “What’s this?” Amber asked, picking up the card.

            “Your gift,” Spencer answered hesitantly.

            Amber read the card.

             _The Rosewood Dance Studio_

_Janet McIntyre dance instructor_

            Underneath those two lines were the number and address. Amber still wasn’t exactly sure what was going on. She looked over at Spencer who read the question in her eyes.

            “I overheard part of your conversation with Garcia when the two of you were watching the dance competition, so I thought arranging for dance lessons for the two of us would be a good gift. Perhaps our first dance could be a waltz after all.”

            “You’re actually going to take dance lessons?”

            Spencer shrugged. “Who knows, it might be fun and I’d do anything for you. Garcia helped me find a place that offered private lessons along with group lessons. I’m definitely not ready for the group lessons but I talked to Janet McIntyre and she’s willing to work around our crazy schedules by setting up the lessons one at a time. I’ve paid for ten to start with. We just need to call her to set up the first session.”

            Amber embraced him. “This is the best present you could give me,” she told him.

            “I do recommend that you invest in steel toe shoes, though,” Spencer told her. “I don’t promise not to tread on feet.”

            “Well, then I just might have to return the favor,” Amber told him, before pressing her lips up against his.

            “I think maybe its time we move this celebration upstairs,” Amber said, a few minutes later when the two broke for air. “I think I’m ready for that other desert I told you I had in mind earlier. Besides, you gave me my gift now I think its time I gave you yours.”

            “You won’t get any protest from me,” Reid replied.

            After another long kiss, the couple got to their feet. Amber turned off the tv as she and Spencer walked hand in hand out of the living room and toward the stairs. With any luck it would be a late night but not because of nightmares this time.


End file.
